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Communications · Regional and long-distance: amateur radio and satellite · comms-15

Choose satellite devices and understand what they depend on

Satellite devices reach help from anywhere with a sky view, but every one relies on ground stations, control centres and power somewhere else. In a wide, long blackout they may or may not keep working.

How

  1. Check the law first. Satellite phones, messengers and satellite internet terminals need approval in some countries. Check before buying or travelling.
  2. India example: Business Today reports that Thuraya and Iridium are not authorised there. Devices need prior approval and must be declared at customs, and breaking the rules can mean confiscation, fines or arrest.
  3. First check what your phone can already do by satellite (comms-23).
  4. Personal locator beacon: a 406 MHz PLB sends a distress alert through Cospas-Sarsat satellites to ground stations (LUTs) and mission control centres, which pass it to rescue centres. It needs no subscription but only works if that chain and rescuers are running.
  5. Satellite messenger: two-way text and SOS through a commercial network (for example Iridium for one maker) with an active subscription and a company response centre.
  6. Satellite phone: Iridium-type systems route calls satellite to satellite, then through ground gateways into the phone network, so reaching ordinary phones depends on those gateways and the far-end network.
  7. Satellite internet: a LEO terminal sends traffic through satellites and ground stations to the internet. One maker lists 50 to 75 W average power for its standard kit. Experts quoted by The National name ground gateways and central control software as weak points, and worldwide outages have happened.
  8. Put satellite devices in the PACE plan as Alternate or Contingency layers, and keep radio layers that need nothing beyond your own estate and your neighbours.

Safety: Activate a PLB or SOS only in a real, life-threatening emergency.

Do these first

Sources

  1. Cospas-Sarsat System Overview. NOAA SARSAT, accessed 2026-11
  2. The Iridium LEO satellite system for global mobile communications. Microwave Journal, accessed 2026-11
  3. What's different about inReach technology?. Garmin (manufacturer), accessed 2026-11
  4. Starlink Product Specifications: Standard. Starlink (manufacturer), accessed 2026-11
  5. Starlink power cuts reveal vulnerabilities of space-based internet systems. The National, accessed 2026-11
  6. Satellite phones in India: not banned, but tightly regulated (20 April 2026). Business Today (India), accessed 2026-11
  7. Use Emergency SOS via satellite on your iPhone. Apple Support (manufacturer), accessed 2026-11

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