A satellite constellation can be considered to be a number of satellites with coordinated coverage, working together under shared control.
Examples of satellite constellations include the GPS constellation for navigation and geodesy, the Iridium and Globalstar satellite telephony services, Russian elliptical Molnya constellations, and the proposed Teledesic broadband constellation.
Satellite constellation coverage and geometry -- determining the minimum number of satellites needed to provide a service, and their orbits -- is a field in itself.
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