Longitude-Reuse Plan doubles communication satellite capacity of geostationary arc

Communication satellites placed in the geostationary orbital arc must be separated by at least 3 to 4 deg in longitude to avoid mutual interference. The demand for C and Ku band longitude slots will soon exceed the capacity of the arc. Relief can be provided by the Longitude-Reuse Plan which permits doubling or tripling the number of satellites while meeting mutual interference constraints. Three or four satellites in slightly inclined orbits occupy the same orbital arc longitude slot, replacing or augmenting an existing geostationary satellite. By handing over the communications links at times of close approach, these satellites are used to create two full time 'virtual' communications satellites, one remaining north of the equatorial plane and the other south.