Low-Earth-orbit satellites seem to be popping up everywhere. Craig McCaw and Bill Gates's joint venture, Teledisc, recently received FCC approval to launch its digital communications project by 2000, and Motorola's Iridium has announced that it will ramp up its services to allow for cellular-system roaming.
Why are LEO satellites suddenly so hot? Equipped with omnidirectional antennas, these satellites will improve everything wireless: fax, paging, phone, and teleworking services. Due to the greater silicon densities achieved over the last 20 years, capacity has gone up, while price has gone down. LEO satellites, orbiting a mere 500 to 1,000 miles above the earth, use less power than their older, bulkier counterparts and boast no transmission delays.
Lost track of who's launching what, and when? See below.
Who How Many Launch date Service date What
Teledesic | 840 | 2000 | 2002 | Global broadband service including videoconferencing and multimedia
Iridium | 66 | May 1997-April 1998 | September 1998 | Worldwide voice, data, fax service
Alcatel Alsthom | 64 | 2001 | 2001 | High-quality videoconferencing, teleworking, and entertainment
Globalstar | 56 (48 operating; 8 spares) | August 1997 | End of 1998 | Voice, low-rate data exchange, some messaging, fax
Leo One | 48 | Pending | 2000 | Email, paging, messaging, fax
Orbcomm Global | 36 (28 in orbit; 8 spares) | April 1995-March 1998 | March 1998 | Email, paging, messaging, fax
ICO Global | 12 | September 1998 | 2000 | Voice, data, Internet communications
Odyssey | 12 | 2000 | 2001 | Mobile voice and data, phone service to remote regions
Orbimage | 3 | Present to end of 1997 | 1997 | Weather services, high-resolution digital photography
| ELECTRIC WORD
The Race for Space
