TV form outerspace

sPar)e European TV satellites have been in the news a great deal in recent months. This sudden enthusiasm may seem a little odd at first, considering that Europe has not launched a single satellite for television purposes yet. What with the vast networks in the United States, Canada and Japan, which have been operating at a profit for quite some time now, it is understandable that people in Europe are looking forward to the system"s introduction on the "old" continent. But what really set tongues wagging was the news that the OTS (Orbital Test Satellite), a communication stallite that is already in orbit above Europe, is going to broadcast TV programmes starting in 1982. Before discussing the proposed venture, it might be useful to find out how TV satellites came into being. TV satellites are communication satellites that trans- mit programmes directly to cable oper- ators or private TV owners. Communi- cation satellites have made terrific progress since the sixties when they 1 we...