Communications data passes through the satellite
using a signal path known as a ”transponder.” Typically
satellites have between 24 and 72 transponders.
Transponders may be shared between many customers,
in a ”demand access” environment, or segments
of capacity may be dedicated to individual customers,
depending on the customer application. A single
transponder is capable of handling up to 155 million
bits of information per second. With this immense
capacity, today’s communication satellites are an ideal
medium for transmitting and receiving almost any kind
of content, from simple voice or data to the most
complex and bandwidth-intensive video, audio and
Internet content.