A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial
satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications. Modern communications satellites use a variety of orbits including
geostationary orbits,
Molniya orbits, other
elliptical orbits and low (polar and non-polar) Earth orbits.
For fixed (point-to-point) services, communications satellites provide a
microwave radio relay technology complementary to that of submarine communication cables. They are also used for mobile applications such as communications to ships, vehicles, planes and hand-held terminals, and for TV and radio broadcasting, for which application of other technologies, such as cable, is impractical or impossible.
Inmarsatwas originally founded as the International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) as a not-for-profit international organization in 1979, at the behest of the International Maritime Organization ("IMO", a UN body) for the purpose of establishing a satellite communications network for the maritime community.
