Planning for the post-1985 Intelsat system

The objectives of the future Intelsat System Planning Study are to develop and analyze alternative system and spacecraft concepts for the post-1985 period, to identify the key technologies necessary to implement these concepts, and to develop the necessary methodology and analysis and synthesis tools to conduct the required planning. The traffic in the Intelsat system is projected to increase to 300,000 channels by year-end 1993. New system concepts and technologies are required to provide the necessary capacity efficiently. Several system concepts and spacecraft designs are described. The effect of intersatellite links, TDMA, small antennas, new frequency allocations, and intersatellite traffic distribution are discussed.