Title :
ACTS-a communications system for the future
Author_Institution :
Martin Mareitta Astrospace, Princeton, NJ, USA
Abstract :
The paper describes the new technologies in the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), and their relevance to today´s burgeoning field of digital communications, with applications ranging from voice telephony to gigahertz channels for supercomputer interconnections. The ACTS satellite was developed and built by Martin Marietta under contract to the NASA Lewis Research Center and launched on the Space Shuttle in September 1993. Its purpose is to maintain US leadership in satellite communications. ACTS provides an on-orbit digital communications laboratory available, free of charge, to US industry, academia and government agencies in order to conduct experiments in digital communications to help in defining future systems. The paper also discusses the types of experiments, the agencies conducting them, and the equipment that has been developed to conduct them
Keywords :
digital radio systems; satellite relay systems; ACTS; Advanced Communications Technology Satellite; Ka band; agencies; digital communications; equipment; gigahertz channels; on-orbit digital communications laboratory; satellite communications; supercomputer interconnections; voice telephony; Artificial satellites; Communications technology; Contracts; Digital communication; NASA; Paper technology; Space shuttles; Space technology; Supercomputers; Telephony;
Conference_Titel :
Telesystems Conference, 1994. Conference Proceedings., 1994 IEEE National
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1869-2
DOI :
10.1109/NTC.1994.316668
