The skylink mobile satellite system

The proposed Skylink thin-route mobile satellite system will extend voice and data communications to all the 48 contiguous states and Alaska, including off-shore areas. The system will be owned by a partnership to be known as Skylink America and will serve a wide variety of applications. The network will be managed by a Network Operations Center, and the user terminal equipment will consist of Personal Satellite Phones, single-user terminals that will be in the price range of cellular radio telephones, and hub terminals, which will control the partner-owned private networks within the system. The system is being developed using existing and proven technologies in the space segment and in the various ground terminals. Analog and digital traffic will be supported, and the control structure will allow the formation of packet-switched and polled subnetworks.