Book excerpt: Deals with the physics and geometry of the geostationary orbit, and the construction and operation of satellites and launch vehicles. Gives a thorough analysis of essential factors governing the quality of speech, data, and television signals received via satellite. Particular attention is paid to the use of satellites for maritime, aeronautical and land-mobile communications and VSATs (very-small aperture terminals). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR