Editing Very-small-aperture terminal (section)

==History==
The concept of the [[geostationary orbit]] was originated by Russian theorist [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]], who wrote articles on [[space exploration|space travel]] around the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1920s, [[Hermann Oberth]] and [[Herman Potocnik]], also known as Herman Noordung, described an orbit at an altitude of {{convert|35,900|km|miles}} whose [[Orbital period|period]] exactly matched the Earth's rotational period, making it appear to hover over a fixed point on the Earth's [[equator]].<ref name="yBz0r">[http://celestrak.com/columns/v04n07/ CelesTrak: "Basics of the Geostationary Orbit"<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Arthur C. Clarke|Arthur C. Clarke's]] October 1945 ''[[Wireless World]]'' article (called "Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?") discussed the necessary [[Orbital elements|orbital characteristics]] for a geostationary orbit and the frequencies and power needed for communication.

Live satellite communication was developed in the 1960s by [[NASA]], which launched [[Syncom]] 1–3 satellites.<ref name="R6duG">[http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_388.html NASA – The First Geosynchronous Satellite<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Syncom 3 transmitted live coverage of the [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Olympics]] in [[Japan]] to viewers in the [[United States]] and [[Europe]]. On April 6, 1965, the first commercial satellite was launched into space, [[Intelsat I]], nicknamed Early Bird.<ref name="fSk06">[http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel/ask-academy/issues/ask-oce/AO_1-7_SF_history.html Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL) | NASA<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629025241/http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel/ask-academy/issues/ask-oce/AO_1-7_SF_history.html |date=June 29, 2011}}</ref>

The first commercial VSATs were C band (6&nbsp;GHz) receive-only systems by Equatorial Communications using [[spread spectrum]] technology. More than 30,000 60&nbsp;cm antenna systems were sold in the early 1980s. Equatorial later developed a C band (4/6&nbsp;GHz) two-way system using 1 m x 0.5 m antennas and sold about 10,000 units in 1984–85.

In the early 1980s, LINKABIT (the predecessor to Qualcomm and ViaSat) developed the world's first Ku-band (12–14&nbsp;GHz) VSAT for Schlumberger to provide network connectivity for oil field [[Oil platform|drilling]] and exploration units. LINKABIT which had become part of M/A-COM went on to develop {{Ku band}} VSATs for enterprise customers such as [[Walmart]], [[Holiday Inn]], [[Chrysler]], and [[General Motors]]. These enterprise terminals made up the vast majority of sites for the next 20 years for two-way data or telephony applications. A large VSAT network, with more than 12,000 sites, was deployed by [[Spacenet]] and MCI for the [[U.S. Postal Service]] in the 1980s. {{As of|2015}}, the largest VSAT Ku-band network containing over 100,000 VSATs was deployed by and is operated by [[Hughes Communications]] for [[lottery]] applications.<ref name="zVtoz">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hughes.com/sites/hughes.com/files/2017-04/Lottery-System_H55667_HR.pdf |title=Hughes Lottery System Solutions, Hughes White Paper |access-date=2023-05-22 }}</ref>

In 2005, WildBlue (now ViaSat) started deploying VSAT networks deploying Ka-band. ViaSat launched the highest capacity satellite ever, ViaSat-1, in 2011 to expand the WildBlue base under its Exede brand. In 2007, [[Hughes Communications]] started deploying {{Ka band}} VSAT sites for consumers under its HughesNet brand on the Spaceway 3 satellite and later in 2012 on its [[EchoStar XVII|EchoStar XVII/Jupiter 1]] satellite. By September 2014, Hughes became the first Satellite Internet Provider to surpass one million active terminals.<ref name="swX8H">{{cite web |url=http://www.hughes.com/resources/hughes-becomes-first-satellite-internet-provider-to-surpass-one-million-active-users-1 |title=Hughes Becomes First Satellite Internet Provider to Surpass One Million Active Users {{!}} Hughes |website=www.hughes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913233513/http://www.hughes.com/resources/hughes-becomes-first-satellite-internet-provider-to-surpass-one-million-active-users-1 |archive-date=2014-09-13}} </ref>