4 ms·

Newer ones have authentication right?

• moftz 8y ago
  You could have a DSP kind of repeater where the satellite receives a signal, unencrypts it, reads the information inside the packet, encrypts it, and the routes it accordingly (maybe to a different antenna or to the avionics computer inside). The old designs were basically just two antennas with an amplifier in between them. If you wanted encryption, that was between you and the recipient. The satellite was pretty much agnostic to what was going through it. The benefit of even the simplest digital repeater is that your signal only has to be good enough for a one way trip. You can do higher data rates because you only need to worry about the space to ground link (ground to space usually isn't a problem since power is more available).