Book excerpt: An updated, accessible guide to satellite communications fundamentals and new developments This thoroughly revised classic guide to satellite communications provides in-depth, textbook style coverage combined with an intuitive, low-math approach. The book covers the latest breakthroughs in global wireless applications, digital television, and Internet access via satellite. Filled with worked-out examples and more than 200 illustrations, the new edition offers a clear, state-of-the-art presentation of all satellite communications topics. Written by two experienced electrical engineering professors, Satellite Communications, Fifth Edition fully aligns with the objectives of undergraduate and graduate courses in RF/Microwave communications, with training for the needs of the aerospace industry and federal government agencies in mind. Readers will explore orbits and launching methods, satellite and ground SATCOM systems, radio wave propagation, antennas, analog and digital signals, link analysis, and error control coding. Expanded to emphasize calculations of signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the importance of SNR calculation losses Ancillary suite includes homework problems with solutions manual, PowerPoint slides, and a series of video lectures Written by three scholars, each with over 40 years of experience