I found a chapter, “Satellites for Global E-Finance and News,” in my Document file for work I was doing on technology and the internationalization of money, particularly in the realms of finance and news. It traces the development and impact of satellite technology on international communications, primarily from the 1960s to the late 1980s. So I ran it through Google’s Gemini 2.5 AI and asked it to summarize. I edited it and posted it below.

telecommunication-satellites

The chapter demonstrates how satellite technology, driven by the demands of globalizing finance and the need for rapid news dissemination, navigated regulatory hurdles and technological advancements to become a crucial component of international communication infrastructure by the late 1980s. The chapter highlights the interplay between political decisions (deregulation), technological innovation (more powerful satellites, VSATs), and economic forces (the growth of global finance and media) in shaping this transformative period.

Inspired by John F. Kennedy’s vision of landing a man on the Moon and enabled by the space program and the Communications Act of 1962, Intelsat was formed, leading to the first global satellite communication system. Live broadcasts, especially the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, demonstrated its potential to the US and the world.

At the time, satellites had some significant advantages over undersea cables. They offered geography-insensitive connectivity, bypassing national terrestrial infrastructures and enabling point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and broadcast transmissions. Fiber optic cables now provide much more capacity and speed, but satellites have become more sophisticated, especially new designs like SpaceX’s Starlink.

Satellites had a significant impact on the globalization of electronic finance. The end of the Bretton Woods agreement in the 1970s spurred the growth of electronic currency exchanges, which relied heavily on satellite data communication for financial news and transactions. The liberalization of the global financial and telecommunications regulatory environment allowed satellites to facilitate borderless commerce and e-money. This digital globalization led to the resurgence of the US dollar as the world’s reserve and trading currency.

Deregulation in the US helped propel new services. The 1972 Domestic Satellite Decision (“Open Skies”) was a crucial step in deregulating the US telecommunications system, allowing new companies to enter the satellite service market and setting a precedent for further deregulation. [2]

The Apollo space project spurred the development of stronger rockets and miniaturization of electronics, leading to larger and more sophisticated satellites like the Intelsat IVA with over 6,500 voice circuits and 2 TV channels by the mid-1970s (up from 240 voice circuits in Intelsat I). Satellites also began supporting packet-switched data communications thanks to the Alohanet and other networking projects.

Satellite communications became vital for electronic money and news flow. Cheaper long-distance telephone service, live broadcasting of major sports events, and faster news footage transmission from remote locations became possible. Newspapers like the Wall Street Journal saw significant benefits, reducing transmission costs from $3,500 per day to $90 and increasing plant productivity from 25,000 to 70,000 copies. Dow Jones’ revenues increased from $156 million in 1971 to $531 million ten years later.

Satellite technology facilitated the rise of global news networks like PBS (reaching 179 earth stations by 1984) and CNN (launched in 1980), enabling live, continuous news coverage from anywhere in the world. ABC’s Nightline exemplified this trend by its reporting on the Iranian hostage crisis and later the Tiananmen Square uprising in China. Hosted by Ted Koppel, the program conducted remote interviews with people such as UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutras Ghali. It combined the long distance service with some new studio technology and in the process developed a new form of news coverage that caught on quickly around the world.[3]

Europe also recognized the importance of space-based communications, forming the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1973 and developing the Ariane rocket, which became a primary launch vehicle, especially after the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. I had a chance to visit the ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, Netherlands in 1990 while visiting my uncle. It was while writing my PhD on electronic money and helped shape my thinking.

Satellite Business Systems (SBS) was formed by a joint venture between Aetna, Comsat, and IBM and aimed to provide high-speed data communications (45 megabits per second) for corporations. Despite technical capabilities (SBS-1 had a capacity for 1250 two-way telephone conversations per channel and 10 simultaneous color television transmissions with an average data rate of 480 megabits per second), SBS faced challenges due to the emergence of the X.25 protocol and the high cost of earth stations. It was eventually sold off.

Intelsat expanded rapidly, despite facing emerging competition. It launched its Intelsat V series in the mid-1980s, supporting both C-band and Ku-band frequencies and offering a wide range of services to 174 countries by 1987. Its International Business Services (IBS) catered to major international corporations.

In the early 1980s, the Reagan administration pushed for the deregulation of international satellite communications, challenging Intelsat’s monopoly. The FCC allowed new US International Service Carriers (USISCs) and open ownership of earth stations.

Deregulation also led to competition in launch vehicles. The NASA Space Shuttle program initially boosted the satellite industry by providing a reusable launch vehicle. However, the 1986 Challenger disaster led to a temporary halt and a shift towards privatization of launch services, allowing European (Ariane) and Chinese (Long March) rockets to gain market share.

Concerns arose regarding the limited resource of the geosynchronous orbit, conceptualized by Arthur C. Clarke. (see below) This shortage led to monitoring and regulation by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), primarily using a first-come, first-served principle, although political pressures for a registration system emerged.

Overall, “Chapter 12” “Satellites for Global E-Finance and News,”
explores how satellite technology evolved from the 1960s to the late 1980s to become a foundational infrastructure for global finance and news media. It illustrates the interaction between technological innovation, regulatory reform, and globalization, focusing on how satellites enabled real-time, transnational communication crucial for electronic money systems and financial journalism.

Citation APA (7th Edition)

Pennings, A.J. (2025, May 17) Satellites for Global E-Finance and News. apennings.com https://apennings.com/global-e-commerce/satellites-for-global-e-finance-and-news/

Notes

[1] Quote from JFK was from a speech given at Rice University in Houston Texas to dedicate NASA’s new Manned Spacecraft Center, 22 miles away.
[2] I always found Rob Frieden’s work on the FCC and international communications technology to be particulary useful. Parsons, P.R and Frieden, R.M. (1998) The Cable and Satellite Television Industries. Needham, MA: Allyn and Bacon. p. 52. Tim Logue, as well. Logue, Timothy “Recent Major U.S. Facilities-Related Policy Decisions: Letting a Million Circuits Bloom,” In Wedemeyer D. and Pennings, A. (eds.) Telecommunications-Asia, Americas, Pacific: PTC’ 86 Proceedings. p. 81.
[3] Hansen, Jarice. (1994) Connections: Technologies of Communication. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers. p. 162.

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Anthony J. Pennings, PhD is a professor at the Department of Technology and Society, State University of New York, Korea and a Research Professor for Stony Brook University. He teaches AI and broadband policy. From 2002-2012, he taught digital economics and information systems management at New York University. He also taught in the Digital Media MBA at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, where he lives when not in Korea.

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Category: global communications, global e-commerce, space systems
Tags: Domestic Satellite Decision > Nightline > Open Skies > SA's European Space Research and Technology Centre > SBS > US International Service Carriers (USISCs)

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