Attachment 1991Comments George

1991Comments George

COMMENT submitted by George Mason University

Comments

1991-06-14

This document pretains to SAT-A/O-19900228-00011 for Authority to Operate on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATAO1990022800011_1059011

S te Un‘;’va'f 4400 University Drive Department of Electrical in Nerthern Virginis~ _ Fairfax, Virginia 22030 and Computer Engineering (703) 323—2302 RECEIVED George Mason University JuN 17 1997 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY June 14, 1991 Ms. Donna R. Searcy, Secretary Office of the Secretary Federal Communications Commission Room 222 1919 M Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20054 Ex RE: File No Dear Ms. Searcy: This letter is to express comments in support of Orbital Communications Corporation‘s Amended Application for authority to construct a low—orbit satellite communication sys— tem. The ORBCOMM proposal is of pioneering nature due to technical innovations that will be implemented in the satellite communication system. The key feature of the system resulting from these innovations will be the low cost and weight of portable and mobile terminals. By using a hand—held terminal of approximately the size of a pocket calcula— tor, the subscriber will be able to exchange brief alphanumeric messages with any other location in the U.S., and to determine the geographical position on the ground. The affordability of such service will make it very popular among the motorists, small boat owners. forestry and environmental workers, hikers, skiers, and others. In particular, the emergency service capability in remote areas provided by this system will be of incalcul— able value to many people. The geographic position determination capability offered by the system will be based on a calculation method much different from the one currently used by GPS or other systems involving geo—synchronous high—orbit satellites. This will result in a simpler and less expensive microelectronic circuitry serving this application. As a result, the cost of the position determination device will be a fraction of those currently used, thus enhancing the affordability of the service. Other potential uses of the system include certain environmental data collections via satellite, and data collection on automobile traffic in certain heavily congested areas and corridors, such as the system of interstate highways between Washington and New York.

Other new areas of application are very likely to emerge once the system is put in ser— vice. ‘ Myself, my colleagues and graduate students here at the School of Information Technol— ogy of George Mason University are greatly interested in the new possibilities offered by the system‘s concept. We would very much like to perform experiments with digital data communications via ORBCOMM‘s satellites and do research on further improvements of the design of the position determination system. The concept of portable, low cost two— way satellite communication devices is very attractive. It is likely to generate a great deal of interest in the educational and research community. It may also contribute to enhanc— ing U.S. competitiveness in high technology areas. I thus respectfully recommend an early approval of the above mentioned Amended Application by Orbital Communications Corporation. Sincerely yours, Andre Z. Manitius Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and University Coordinator for GMU Virginia Space Development Consortium Virginia‘s Center for Innovative Technology cc. Alan L. Parker, President Orbital Communications Corporation


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Document Modified: 2014-08-22 16:19:22
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