COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES AND DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

DESIGNED TO EXAMINE SOFTWARE AND IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS, IT DEFINES THE PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL OF COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES AS GLEANED FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF INDIA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, IRAN, ETC. THE PROJECT IS COMPOSED OF 9 UNITS, 8 STUDIES AND ONE CONFERENCE. CONSULTANTS COMPOSE PAPERS BY COLLATING EXISTING MATERIALS. A REPORT IS PREPARED ON FUTURE PLANS OF LDCS FOR USE OF SATELLITES, AND IT INCLUDES DATA RELATING TO SPECIFIC COUNTRIES AND POSSIBLE REGIONAL EXTENSION. PEACESAT, A VOICE ONLY SATELLITE PROGRAM OPERATING IN THE PACIFIC AREA, IS EXAMINED BECAUSE OF THE COST ADVANTAGE OF RADIO. ANOTHER PAPER REPORTS ON INDIA"S SATELLITE INSTRUCTION TELEVISION EXPERIMENT (SITE), THE ONLY PROJECT WHICH HAS TAKEN PLACE IN AN LDC. US EXPERIMENTS IN LOW COST, HEALTH DELIVERY SYSTEMS USING ATS-6 SATELLITE ARE REPORTED. A BODY OF RESOURCE AND RESEARCH MATERIAL IS AVAILABLE. ANOTHER PAPER COMMENTS ON THE CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE. THE DIFFERENCE IN FREQUENCY USED AND ON-BOARD TRANSMITTER POWER FROM ATS-6 PERMITS SMALLER ANTENNAS AT THE GROUND SITES AND EXPERIMENTS IN TRANSMITTING DIRECTLY TO HOME RECEIVERS. A PORTABLE EARTH TERMINAL IS EXAMINED FOR POSSIBLE DISASTER RELIEF USES. ANOTHER PAPER SYNTHESIZES THE FORMAL EVALUATIONS OF THE ATS-6 HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERIMENTS. COSTS OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY ARE EXAMINED FROM ATS-6 EVALUATIONS AND FINAL REPORTS. PAPER ALSO ATTEMPTS TO ASSESS COSTS IN MOUNTING, MANAGING, AND MAINTAINING SITE. AN EFFORT IS MADE TO FACTOR IN SOFTWARE AND PERSONNEL COSTS. CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF ATS-6 OPERATIONS CREATES A BODY OF INFORMATION. ACTIVITIES OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE SATELLITE CONSORTIUM ARE ALSO MONITORED. EXPERTS FROM VARIOUS FIELDS ARE INVITED TO A CONFERENCE ON THE USE OF COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES. RESULTING MONOGRAPH ADDRESSES SATELLITES IN EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT. FINAL ACTIVITY MONITORS INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES, MEETINGS, CONFERENCES, AND SEMINARS WHICH DISCUSS THE ROLE OF SATELLITES IN DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS.