Communication satellites Have you ever thought about how that little phone in your hand works? What about the fact that you always seem to have access to the internet and cable? A satellite is a device placed in orbit around the Earth that uses receivers, amplifiers and transmitters to receive and send signals around the world (“Communications Satellite August 2007”). Satellites provide signals to these and other devices. Satellites orbit the Earth and provide global communications, as well as collect valuable data. Many countries and companies currently compete for valuable satellite orbits. Individuals and countries have pushed themselves and others to improve their space technology by testing and using new and innovative ideas. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, satellites were used exclusively for telecommunications, television and radio (“Communications Satellite Aug. 2007”). “The success of the first satellites has sparked private sector interest in communications satellites” (“Communications Satellites June 2008”). The first satellites were extremely low-tech, but the possibilities for using them for communications continued to improve. One of the most important steps toward global communications was the invention of rocket flight in the mid-1940s (Palmer 319). “Before 1956, people could only talk to each other across the Atlantic Ocean via transatlantic cables” (“Communications Satellite June 2008”). “In 1956, the first transatlantic cables were laid on the ocean floor, but there were not enough of them to handle the growing volume of telephone calls” (“Communications Satellite Aug. 2007”). In the early 1960s, there were still only about forty transatlantic communications channels, with little promise... half paper... data, they will guarantee that satellites will always be used. Works Cited"Communications Satellite." Gale Science in context. Gale Science In Context, June 1, 2008. Web. February 14, 2014."Communications Satellite." Gale Science in context. Gale Science In Context, August 30, 2007. Web. February 14, 2014. “Communications Satellite Industry.” Gale Science in context. Gale Science in Context, 2012. Web. 16 February 2014. Marsden, Ann T. “The Evolution of Satellite Communications.” Science and its times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. vol. 7: from 1950 to today. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 515-17. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. February 17, 2014.Palmer, Diane Nagel. "Communications satellites." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. vol. 2. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 2003. 319-20. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. February 17. 2014.