The West Project: An Hybrid Constellation Dedicated to the Ubiquitous Access of the ‘Information Society’

At the beginning of the 21st century, the power of a country will be related to its capability to communicate and to access efficiently the so-called ‘Global Information Infrastructure’ (GII). Several terrestrial alternatives are available for broadband communications, but all are subject to some limitations (cost, availability of the infrastructure, time to install). Satellites appear to be the right answer to complement these terrestrial networks. WEST is a Matra Marconi Space initiative answering this need for multimedia services.