Satellite communications

Satellite communications include a wide range of technologies and applications that depend on high-altitude electronic relay(s), most often artificial satellites in Earth orbit. The article is not titled "communications satellite", since many applications involve multiple orbiting vehicles, and also a great deal of equipment on Earth. The definition is sufficiently broad to include communications that use communications relay devices operating within the atmosphere, including unmanned aerial vehicles, lighter-than-air devices carrying electronics, or manned aircraft with a primary communications relay function.