Military satellite communications, history and status as of 1974

After a short introduction to various types of links and network organizations, the experimental phase in military satellite communications systems is described in a chronological discussion of early communications satellites. This experimental phase is considered to have ended with the TASCAT and IDCSP satellites. Present systems and systems of the near future are covered in subsequent sections. Technological and operational state of the art is highlighted in connection with orbits, launchers, satellite and earth terminal systems, and multiple access techniques. A special section is devoted to features concerning the vulnerability of satcom systems and intends to show that one may well expect such vulnerability to be less than for traditional systems. Extensive references to detailed discussions of various problems connected with military satcom are provided from a list of easily accessible literature.