Olympus: The communications satellite and its uses. An introduction

Olympus is the largest civil communications satellite ever launched. It is owned and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is in a geostationary orbit at longitude 19 degrees W. Olympus was specifically designed to test the technologies needed for future satellite applications and services. However, capacity is also available to demonstrate new services via satellite such as tele-education and business communications. All the payloads are powerful enough to be used with very small earth stations. Olympus carries four quite distinct payloads, each with its own steerable antennas. The payloads are the (Direct) Broadcast Payload, the Specialized Services Payload, the 30/20 GHz Communications Payload, and the Propagation Payload. Various aspects of the services Olympus provides, how to use these services, and details on the payloads are presented.