Our team explored contemporary applications of mathematics that provided support for placing a communication satellite in orbit. This satellite would send data, images and sound to a variety of future customers; consumers, businesses and laboratories.

The data communication to businesses such as e-trade companies and banks carries the need to be securely encrypted. The current standard, RSA, will be explored and used. The degree to which this is secured is very important and will be analyzed. This involves factor large numbers (on the order of 512 bits). This leads us to number theory.

The position and behavior of the satellite itself are important. It must be in a geosynchronous orbit to be reliable. The simple tool of a satellite dish is needed to communicate with it and the geometry of such a device merits study. Also it must be decided where the satellite will be located and how to have each customer properly and accurately aim their dish at it. All of this results in a variety of geometry problems.

Communicated images carries their own problems due to the enormity of information contained in them. Compression by fractal techniques may be able to increase performance. Thus the concepts and methods of fractal science are studied.

Putting all of the solutions together will provide the foundation for a productive communication satellite as well as a potentially valuable experience in how mathematics is used.