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A meteor burst communications system (MBCS) uses ionized meteor trails as a means
of radio signal propagation. These trails exist in the 80 to 120 km region of the
earth’s atmosphere, and reflect the RF energy between two stations. The height
of the trails allows over-the-horizon communication at distances up to 2000 km.
However, because the ionized trails exist for only short periods of time (usually
from a few milliseconds to a few seconds) communication is intermittent, and high-speed
digital transmission techniques must be used to convey the information. The system
is particularly well suited for long-range, low data rate applications for both
messaging and data acquisition.
Meteor Burst communications has been a viable communications medium since the 1950s.
It was quickly recognized as an alternative to Satellite. In addition, since no
equipment has to be placed in orbit, it is not susceptible to conventional or nuclear
war side-effects.
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