Development Overview of the Maritime Satcom System

The International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) was founded on July 16, 1979, with headquarters in London, UK. INMARSAT currently has 87 member countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Norway, and China joined the organization in 1979. After nearly 20 years of development, over 160 countries around the world are now using INMARSAT, with over 160,000 users, including over 6,000 in China.

Development history of global maritime satcom

INMARSAT was originally a government-to-government cooperation organization, providing global communication services only to ships sailing around the world at first. Later, INMARSAT expanded its communication services to vehicles on land and planes in the sky. At the 10th extraordinary conference in December 1994, it was renamed the "International Mobile Satellite Organization," but still called "INMARSAT," and became the only provider capable of providing global maritime, aerial, terrestrial, search and rescue, and positioning satellite mobile communication services.

After its establishment in 1979, INMARSAT initially leased the MARISAT satellite from the United States, the MARECS satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA), and the IS-V satellite from INTELSAT to carry out mainly global maritime mobile satellite operations. The first generation of maritime satcom systems was formed in 1982. The second-generation satellite was INMARSAT's bespoke satellite. The third-generation satellite is the latest and most powerful, with five spot beams in addition to the global beam, which enables ground terminals to be miniaturized.

In 1976, the United States launched three maritime communication satellites over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans to meet the needs of naval communication. It established the world's first maritime satcom system. Most of the communication capacity is used by the United States Navy, while a small portion of the communication capacity is open to international merchant ships. The International Maritime Satellite Organization was established on July 16, 1979, and China is one of its member countries.

On February 1, 1982, the organization, through leasing the communication capacity of the US maritime communication satellite, the European Space Agency's European maritime communication satellite, and the International Communication Satellite Organization's International Communication Satellite-V, continued the technical system of maritime communication satellites to form the first generation of international maritime satcom systems and began operating and covering.

Development of maritime satcom system

The maritime satcom system is in its early stage of development, with complex equipment and high cost, and has not yet been widely adopted, but it is developing rapidly.

In 1976, there were 34 ship stations and two shore stations in the world, which developed to 1,650 ship stations and seven shore stations by 1982. Many countries are building or planning their own shore stations and developing small, simple, and inexpensive ship station equipment.

The International Maritime Satellite Organization is working on research on the technical requirements of the second-generation international maritime satcom system and providing positioning capabilities to ships.

The maritime satcom system plays an important role in the "Future Global Maritime Distress and Safety System" being studied by the International Maritime Organization.