Originally Posted by
S.o.S.
Thank you justapax fascinating glimpse of another world.
Satellites are about the most reliable bits of technology out there. Voyagers 1 and 2 have been up there since the late 70s. They've been subject to intense radiation, through several solar cycles, and are still mostly working. They have about the digital technology of a singing birthday card. They're well on their ways out of the solar system, working far beyond their design lifetimes.
AMSAT_OSCAR 7 (American Satellite Overhead Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) is not much younger. The batteries have failed, but you can still talk through the satellite when it's in sunlight. This was built not by governments with multi-million budgets, but by radio amateurs. It was put into orbit before people were concerned about space congestion, and its orbit won't decay for centuries.
An internet acquaintance of mine, who I've lost contact with, works for the European Space Agency Kourou, in French Guiana, about the best place on the planet for launching satellites. it's really close to the Equator. If it wasn't for political reasons (Cape Canaveral is on US soil) everything would be launched from there.