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Greetings from the Editor of the Online Journal of Space Communication

Hello.  My name is Don Flournoy. I am a Professor at Ohio University in the School Of Telecommunications and Editor of the New Online Journal of Space Communication.

For more than 40 years now, we have been placing tall towers in space as platforms for communication. Over that time satellites and space to Earth technologies have demonstrated their value in reducing the constraints of time and distance in communication, and in supporting a much greater volume and diversity of communication among the people of our planet.

In the early days, satellites were tools reserved for the exclusive use of governments and the military. This is no longer the case. Satellite communication is now a multi-billion dollar industry employing not only scientists and engineers but network managers, financial people, data and content providers, account executives, financial analysts, the same types of people working in any other major industry whose business spans the globe.

In the new millennium, we predict, space communication will grow in importance.  It is already a pursuit with its own trade press, professional associations, conferences and conventions.  Space communication is a career path for young people.  Universities teach courses and offer degree programs in satellite and space communication.

This journal is in response to these changing times. By means of the Internet, the Journal will celebrate the achievements of space communication institutions and examine the technologies, the social, political, economic opportunities and constraints facing its industry.

Our goal is to enhance public understanding and to advance space communication as aprofession and as an academic discipline. You are invited to join us in this effort.

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Don Flournoy

Spring 2002

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