Cost reduction trends in space communications by larger satellites/platforms

The paper analyses first the satellite growth trend in the past and the specific characteristics of communication satellites, as there are specific mass per channel and payload share vs. spacecraft mass.

With assistance of a cost model (derived from actual spacecraft cost) it is shown that larger satellites are more cost effective. The same applies to the launch cost, also showing a reduction in specific cost (per kg or per channel-year) for larger payloads.

Finally different types of communication satellites/platforms are compared (two smaller satellites, one large satellite, modular docked assemblies) for the same total communication capacity of 72 000 dual telephone channels. It is shown that for each orbital communication capacity a certain optimum spacecraft size exists which leads to minimum space segment cost.