As for the failed satellite calls, my guess would be that communication was initiated, but that all of the handshakes required to actually place a call were not

As for the failed satellite calls, my guess would be that communication was initiated, but that all of the handshakes required to actually place a call were not completed successfully. Typical cause: you are equipped with a gain antenna which requires stabilisation to point at the relevant patch of sky - and the stabilisation isn't working. You can aim for the general area and sometimes, you get close enough to start the connection process. (Or any other number of reasons - the above I have experienced myself. Luckily, we had the option to switch to a lower-gain antenna and connect anyway (at a higher rate.)