Beyond The Ionosphere: Fifty Years of Satellite Communication

October 1995 marked the fiftieth anniversary of Arthur C. Clarke's famous article in Wireless World proposing the use of satellites placed in geosynchronous orbit for worldwide communications relay. The article proved prophetic, for it heralded the modern era of telecommunications. Beginning in the early 1960s, several series of satellites were launched into Earth's orbit; collectively they transformed the latter twentieth century, creating a global village of instantaneous communications. ...