Q 2.10 What are the disadvantages of low and medium Earth orbit for telecommunication services?
Low and medium Earth orbit require a large number of satellites for global coverage. Due to their high motion, received signal frequencies suffer large Doppler frequency drift; moreover radio link suffers highly variable signal levels. Network architecture is complex with need of handover or inter-satellite link, etc. and interference management is complex. Deployment and constellation maintenance is complex. Probability of increasing orbital debris from failed satellites increases.