MARECS was a version of the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

's ECS

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

, adapted for maritime communications. It was used by

Inmarsat Inmarsat is a British communications satellite, satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with groun ...

. MARECS A was launched in 1981 and placed over the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. It was deactivated in August 1996. MARECS B was lost due to launch problems in 1982, while MARECS B2 (also known as MARECS C) was launched in 1984 and placed over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. MARECS B2/C was active until 2002.{{Cite web , title=Marecs , url=https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2005/01/Marecs/(lang) , access-date=2023-03-14 , website=www.esa.int , language=en They were among Europe's first telecommunications satellites.

References

External links

Documentary
Communications satellites European Space Agency satellites