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communications satellite

(Encyclopedia)communications satellite artificial satellite that functions as part of a global radio-communications network. Echo 1, the first communications satellite, launched in 1960, was an instrumented inflat...

Communications Satellite Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Communications Satellite Corporation (Comsat), organization incorporated (1962) by an act of Congress to establish a commercial system of international communications using artificial satellites. Alth...

communications industry

(Encyclopedia)communications industry, broadly defined, the business of conveying information. Although communication by means of symbols and gestures dates to the beginning of human history, the term generally ref...

satellite, artificial

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Nimbus weather satellite B. Syncom communications satellite satellite, artificial, object constructed by humans and placed in orbit around the earth or other celestial body (see also space ...

Federal Communications Commission

(Encyclopedia)Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. The FCC is co...

meteorological satellite

(Encyclopedia)meteorological satellite: see satellite, artificial; weather satellite. ...

weather satellite

(Encyclopedia)weather satellite, artificial satellite used to gather data on a global basis for improvement of weather forecasting. Information includes cloud cover, storm location, temperature, and heat balance in...

navigation satellite

(Encyclopedia)navigation satellite, artificial satellite designed expressly to aid the navigation of sea and air traffic. Early navigation satellites, from the Transit series launched in 1960 to the U.S. navy's Nav...

satellite, natural

(Encyclopedia)satellite, natural, celestial body orbiting a planet, dwarf planet, asteroid, or star of a larger size. The most familiar natural satellite is the earth's moon; thus, satellites of other planets are o...

reconnaissance satellite

(Encyclopedia)reconnaissance satellite, artificial satellite launched by a country to provide intelligence information on the military activities of foreign countries. There are four major types. Early-warning sate...