Editing Teledesic

[[Image:Teledesic Satellite.gif|thumb|right|A typical Teledesic satellite design]]

'''Teledesic''' was a company founded in the 1990s to build a commercial [[broadband]] [[satellite internet constellation]]. Using [[Low Earth orbit|low-Earth-orbiting]] satellites small antennas could be used to provide uplinks of as much as 100&nbsp;Mbit/s and downlinks of up to 720&nbsp;Mbit/s. The original 1994 proposal was extremely ambitious, costing over 9 billion [[USD]] and originally planning 840 active satellites with in-orbit spares at an altitude of 700 km (400 miles).<ref>[http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/Orders/1997/da970527.txt In the Matter of Teledesic Corporation: Application for Authority to Construct, Launch, and Operate a Low Earth Orbit Satellite System in the Domestic and International Fixed Satellite Service]. File Nos. 22-DSS-P/LA-94, 43-SAT-AMEND-95, 127 SAT-AMEND-95. [[Federal Communications Commission]], March 14, 1997. (Initial Teledesic FCC authorization.) Accessed March 15, 2010.</ref> In 1997, the plan was scaled back to 288 active satellites at 1400 km (900 miles). '''Teledesic Corporation''' changed its name to '''Teledesic, LLC''' by pro forma assignment of its license, granted on 26 January 1998.<ref>[http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/fcc-teledesic.pdf In the Matter of Teledesic LLC Application for Authority to Construct, Launch, and Operate a Ka-band Satellite System in the Fixed-Satellite Service]. File Nos. 22-DSS-P/LA-94, 43-SAT-AMEND-95, 127 SAT-AMEND-95, 195-SAT-ML-97. [[Federal Communications Commission]], January 31, 2001. (Teledesic FCC Modification.) Accessed March 15, 2010.</ref>

The commercial failure of the similar [[Iridium Communications|Iridium]] and [[Globalstar]] ventures (composed of 66 and 48 operational satellites respectively) and other systems, along with bankruptcy protection filings, were primary factors in halting the project, and Teledesic officially suspended its satellite construction work on 1 October 2002.<ref>de Selding, Peter B.
"[http://www.space.com/spacenews/archive03/teledesicarch_071403.html Teledesic Plays Its Last Card, Leaves the Game]". Space News, July 14, 2003. Accessed March 15, 2010, via the [[Internet Archive]].</ref>

==Description==
Announced in March 1994 as a [[satellite constellation]] with 840 satellites and initial $5 million investments from [[Bill Gates]] and [[Craig McCaw]],<ref name="wexler19940328">{{Cite magazine |last=Wexler |first=Joanne |date=1994-03-28 |title=Gates-McCaw network plan met with skepticism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2024-12-31 |magazine=Network World |pages=1,58}}</ref> the Teledesic system would have provided "fiber-optic like" links to customers around the world. The system was to act as a network operator and support communications ranging from high-quality voice channels to broadband channels supporting video-conferencing, interactive multimedia, and real-time two-way data flow. Teledesic was notable for gaining early funding from Gates; McCaw, founder of [[McCaw Cellular Communications]]; and [[House of Saud|Saudi prince]] [[Alwaleed bin Talal]]. The system would have used [[Ka band]] to send and receive signals from users. Each satellite would have acted as a node in a large-scale packet-switching network. The service was planned to begin in 2002 with a total cost of the project estimated at US$9 billion.<ref name="Teledesic">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1998-012B|title=BATSAT: Display 1998-012A |date=17 April 2020|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|access-date=9 May 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="Khan">{{cite book|last1=Khan|first1=Riz|title=Alwaleed, Businessman Billionaire Prince |date=2005|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|isbn=9780060850302|page=[https://archive.org/details/alwaleed00rizk_0/page/135 135]|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/alwaleed00rizk_0/page/135}} </ref>

The satellites were [[Spacecraft attitude control|three-axis stabilized]] with a faceted antenna on the bottom and a large articulated solar panel on top. The spacecraft was designed to be compatible with over 20 different launch vehicles to permit launch option flexibility. The satellites were to be launched into a 700 km (400 mile) circular, near-polar (98.2°) [[Sun-synchronous orbit]]. The initial rollout was to include 12 orbit planes with 24 spacecraft in each plane. The [[Footprint (satellite)|antenna footprint]] for each satellite was to be about 700 km<sup>2</sup> (300 sq. mi.). Teledesic planned 288 satellites in 12 LEO orbits, each at an altitude of 1315 km (817 miles).

Many were immediately skeptical of the proposal. Describing Teledesic as absurd, Howard Anderson of the [[Yankee Group]] said that it was "a third-world solution at a first-world price. The developed world doesn't need it, and the underdeveloped world can't afford it". Larry Gessini of the International Communications Association was amazed by the proposal to launch 840 satellites. Andrew Seybold, consultant, doubted that Teledesic could get approval for spectrum around the world from the [[World Administrative Radio Conference]].{{r|wexler19940328}}

==BATSAT (Teledesic 1)==
A demonstration satellite for the Teledesic constellation, originally labeled '''Broadband Advanced Technologies Satellite''' ('''BATSAT'''),<ref name=Gunter>{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/batsat_t1.htm|title=BATSAT (Teledesic T1)|last1=Krebs|first1=Gunter Dirk|date=4 March 2011|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=17 April 2011}}</ref> and later renamed '''Teledesic 1''' or just '''T1''' ([[International Designator|COSPAR ID]] 1998-012B), was launched from [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]] on a [[Northrop Grumman Pegasus|Pegasus-XL]] launch vehicle on 26 February 1998 at 07:07:00 UTC. The satellite differed in size and design from the anticipated satellite for the final constellation, but was designed to support two-way communications at speeds up to [[E-carrier|E1]] rates in the 28.6-to-29.1-GHz band. The 120 kg (265 lb) satellite was placed in a 535 km (330 mile) × 580 km (360 mile) orbit at 97.7° inclination and a period of 95.8 minutes.<ref>{{cite journal|date=1 March 1998 |journal=SPACEWARN Bulletin|issue=532|publisher=[[NASA]]'s [[National Space Science Data Center]]/[[World Data Center]]|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx532.html|title="SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 532" |access-date=17 April 2011}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

It was the first Ka-band satellite in orbit owned by a commercial enterprise. The satellite decayed from orbit on 9 October 2000.<ref name=Gunter/>

== References ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/teledesic.html Lloyd's satellite constellations - Teledesic]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.teledesic.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011217200708/http://www.teledesic.com/ |archive-date=2001-12-17 |title=Teledesic home page |access-date=2010-08-17 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19990209160543/http://www.teledesic.com/tech/viz1.html 288 satellite visualization]
*
* [http://www.cringely.com/2009/10/what-goes-around-teledesic-2-0/ What Goes Around: Teledesic 2.0]—a column by [[Robert X. Cringely]], October 29, 2009

{{Satellite constellations}}

[[Category:Communications satellites in low Earth orbit]]
[[Category:Internet technology companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct spaceflight companies]]
[[Category:Satellite Internet access]]