isation (IGO) to operate a geostationary tele- communications satellite system is a global policy milestone [2]. Intelsat-1 was placed over the Atlantic Ocean and provided 24 telephone lines or one TV channel relay capability between Europe and the Americas. This was the first telecommunications satellite for international telephony and TV broadcasting, a network that now provides Earth coverage many times over. The development of optical fibres lessened the value of telecommunications satellites. These have now found a new lease on life in broadband telecommunications service provision to underserved, sparsely populated locations, for maritime uses and regions with poor infra- structure. Satellite telecommunications systems now provide connectivity to nearly half of the world population who otherwise would not be connected to the internet. A Relay Station in the Sky Relay stations are used to deliver communications messages from one point to another. Their main function is strengthening the 'message' and/or its 'carrier', as these become weak the further they travel. For example, the Royal Highway stations (see Historical Note in Chapter 1) housed fresh horses and couriers who carried the message forward to the next station. The distance between stations was calculated to maximise speed of message delivery and maintain a low operational cost. A closer example of a modern relay station is a Chappe telegraph tower. Again, the distance between these towers was calculated based on how far the signals could be visible by the telescopes utilised in the system - given a line-of-sight. Similarly, the distance between Morse stations depended on the required received power of the electrical signal for it to be detected, the signal loss as it traversed the copper wires, as well as the oper- ational cost of having a station. In essence relay stations are needed to receive, strengthen and repeat the signal towards its final destination. As noted above, the idea of having a relay station 'fixed' in space to connect two points