Flexible payloads for business oriented communication satellites: the European scenario

The authors examine the European scenario for the new-generation telecommunication satellites. It is noted that the potentially lucrative market offered by satellite TV distribution together with innovative techniques such as ion propulsion and reconfiguration of the beams should favor the growth of the satellite business because of the offered higher capacity and flexibility. Examples of payloads for trunk telephony and semidirect TV are described, and their performance is discussed