Satellite Business Systems

SBS was founded on December 15, 1975 by the aforementioned companies with the goal of providing a digital satellite communications network for business and other professional clients.

The idea was that satellites could provide 'long distance' service from anywhere to anywhere without having to build thousands of miles of terrestrial network facilities.

A year later, MCI and Lockheed sought an additional source of funding and Comsat Corp. entered the venture which was renamed CML Satellite Corp.

This strategy limited SBS' addressable market to corporations with enough concentrated voice and data traffic to justify the installation of multiple earth stations.

The high initial costs of deploying earth stations, along with the rapid success and expansion of terrestrial competitors like MCI and Sprint, prevented SBS from attaining its commercial targets.

This was opposed to then-current satellites using the C band of RF spectrum, requiring a larger (and more costly) dish 8 feet (and up) in size.

SBS engineers designed the cradle that sat in the cargo bay of the shuttle and spun up to 50 RPM, then ejected the spinning satellite with the use of explosive bolts.