Satellite Communications can be a very expensive business. The satellites cost many millions of any currency. The terminals cost equally large amounts of money to design and engineer. But not everything is as black and white as that.

Take Satellite TV, years ago it was a dream to own such a system. Now most of us could get Sky even if we don't actually want it. The receivers are very cheap and simple in design. The broadband internet system is the next big thing to become affordable, in my opinion. Currently, it costs about £30 per month and upwards for a broadband internet account. On top of that you need a separate dish and a receiver card in your PC aswell as the trusty old 56k modem.

For more information on broadband, see the broadband article.

So what do you want to send via satellite anyway?

Speech - Telecommunications to be more specific. The Inmarsat network offers affordable satellite communications to everyone with need. In other words if you can get to a mobile phone network or a payphone you don't need a satellite phone. Satellites are for the services you just can't get anywhere else.

Video - News gathering, getting the pictures back home and beamed into our living rooms 'Live' is the most effective use that satellites have been used for in recent years. But it costs, air time on the satellites is not cheap because demand is high. After all, the competition is limited.

Data - Text messages, files and pictures. Data is anything that can be stored digitally. Sending data via satellite is probably the biggest single use of satellites today. This is mainly because both speech and video can be digitally transmitted in compressed form.

Is there not another way of getting satcoms without multi-million dollar satellites and expensive terminals?

Small Satellites offer a relatively cheap and rapid design solution which is an ideal way of filling the service gaps left by the larger satellites. Technology demonstrators, science projects, surveillance, military and civil communications payloads are all acheivable from satellites that cost a fraction of the larger systems but also offer less in the way of services. A typical large satellite can provide over 2kW of power compared to a small satellite which can provide just 30W or so.

All over the world there are Educational Institutions involved in designing, building and launching their own small satellites. Initially this was a research and development programme and still is, but now these programmes are commercially viable and have spawned Commercial Enterprises from University know how.

The Surrey University Satellite Department has created such a company called Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, and as their website shows, they can deliver complete satellite systems. World renowned experts in satellite engineering and especially mini, micro and now nano-satellites, the SSTL in partnership with the Surrey Space Centre can open the door to satellite communications for businesses and educational institutions where previously this was only available to a wealthy country.