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(More customer reviews)Professor Sachdev deserves a pat on the back, professionally speaking, for this tour de force. We should all be grateful to him for his stellar contributions to telecommunications in general and the satellite industry in particular. This book is a grand sequel to his earlier, widely acclaimed book, Business Strategies for Satellite Systems. I have pored over both books and am impressed by the style, clarity and depth of detail.
As a one-time book reviewer for the IEEE Computer Society, I feel that I'm not being fatuous when I write that the seventeen chapters of this book make for engrossing reading. In the words of Ned Allen, Editor in Chief of the Library of Flight, "Many of the authors, including our editor, Professor Sachdev, were and are themselves key leaders in the moment and thus, the book carries the internationally diverse flavor of the community whose story it tells.
In Professor Sachdev's course in Systems Engineering, taught to graduate students of George Mason University, the students carry out group projects simulating as much as possible real-life environments. In the words of Professor Sachdev, "...there was still a genuine need for a few well-documented stories of success." Hence this book.
Sir Arthur Clarke, that versatile science fiction writer and visionary, is often mentioned in the book, not only because of his now famous paper of 1945, but also for his contributions to the advancement of science in general and satellite communications in particular. Sir Clarke "Conceptualized a worldwide radio system consisting of three geostationary satellites spaced equally around the globe.". Chapter 2, authored by Harold Rosen, discusses Syncom, the World's First Geostationary Satellite.
Then the next sixteen chapters are a breathtaking panoramic view of an array of success stories, from INTELSAT,in Chapter 3, in firm in which Professor Sachdev served for eighteen years, through Telesat, Inmarsat, Eurosat,JSAT and INSAT, all the way to Potential Success Stories in the Future in Chapter 17, by Professor Sachdev again. Ned Allen is right again by using the term "central enabler" to describe the role of our space-based information, communication, and navigation infrastructure in the "worldwide broadening of human outlooks that has come to be called globalization."
Just to give an idea of how well people worked together despite all of the different national backgrounds, I quote from Conny Kullma, one-time CEO of INTELSAT:- "...this diversity was a great advantage for the company. We always have someone around who understands a particular market or business situation, a certain culture, a language, or behavior."
Moving on now to the question of the book's print quality, I'm pleased with the profusion of full-color plates at the end and the many monochrome photographs scattered throughout the book. There's one of President Kennedy smilingly carrying on a conversation with the Prime Minister of Nigeria at the inauguration service over Syncom. The latter saw five years of service to the US Government. The paper quality could be better, however, and is not quite of the same high quality as Professor Sachdev's previous book, of which I made mention earlier.
The science fiction of today becomes the science of tomorrow and the technology of the day after tomorrow. Fittingly, the very last section of the book is on Space Elevators, a potentially much more efficient way of reaching out into space beyond earth than a rocket, which has a net efficiency of only 1%.
Professor Sachdev writes that it would indeed be a fitting tribute to the memory of Arthur Clarke if a Space Elevator were to actually be built by 2045, which is one hundred years after the concept of geostationary orbit was first presented by him. The closing sentence of the book says "It would be even more memorable if the ground anchor for such a space elevator is near Sri Lanka, which was the site of the fictional elevator in Sir Clarke's book Fountains of Paradise. All in all a good book, worth it's weight in gold.
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This unique book presents first-hand histories, case studies, and lessons learned from many of the pioneers who built the satellite industry. They share the experiences, technologies, and business challenges that led to the successful development of an industry that is woven into the very core of our everyday lives. Historically important photographs throughout the book help to illuminate these compelling narratives. In each of these success stories, students, entrepreneurs, and business leaders in a range of disciplines will find valuable material and important lessons that can be applied to their own dreams and plans - in established as well as uncharted territories.
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