The US $2.5 billion Odyssey joint venture between TRW and Teleglobe is scheduled for service in late 2001, when 6 of it’s planned 12 satellites reach Middle Earth Orbit (MEO) of 10,300 km.
Odyssey plans a number of ground stations - including one in Cape Town - all linked by fibre optic cable.
They envisage keeping every populated area on earth within constant sight of at least two satellites.
As a satellite travels across the sky, it would "hand-off" calls to another satellite to keep connections intact - for up to 2 hours.
Odyssey is expected to use dual-mode phones
costing not more than US $60 than current terrestrial-only cellular units, and to charge
US $1 per min plus local charges for calls.
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