very important about and unique to satellites is the broad- cast property. After you send data uplink to a satellite, it comes back downlink over the entire footprint. So a satellite can achieve point-to-multipoint communications very cost-effectively. This had a dramatic impact on the media business. Consider a big newspaper that has seven regional printing presses within the United States. Before satellites, the paper would have had to send a separate transmission to each of those printing locations SO local ads could be inserted and such, but with a satel- lite, you beam it up once, and when it comes down, it rains over the entire foot- print of the United States. If each of the printing presses has a satellite station properly focused on the satellite and knows what frequency to receive on, it will get the information instantaneously. An interesting design parameter associated with satellites is that as the number of locations increases, the economic benefit of using satellites increases. With leased lines, the more locations and the greater the distances between them, the more expensive the network. But when using satellite technology, the more locations that are sharing the hub station and transponder, the less expensive the network becomes for all concerned. Thus, satellite technology presents a very attractive net- working solution for many customers. Remember that there are 700 or SO satellites in space. On top of those 700 sat- ellites, there are about 250,000 pieces of debris that have been cataloged by the space agencies. Furthermore, we are seeing an increase in comet and solar flare activity. A solar flare can decommission a satellite in one pulse, and a little speck of comet dust can put a baseball-sized crater into a solar panel. Because of these types of hazards, strategies must be put in place to protect existing satellites. We often don't recognize what great capabilities satellite can provide. But if we set our sights on more than just the planet earth and realize that there is a great frontie