HealthNet was a satellite communication service that provided healthcare workers in developing nations with access to current medical literature. It also allowed them to exchange information with each other and with colleagues in developed nations. It was operated by American nonprofit SatelLife.

Creation

The idea of SatelLife began in 1985 as a project to include healthcare organizations from the southern hemisphere in global health discussions. It was proposed by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.[1] The organization was founded in 1989, chaired by Bernard Lown.[2]

Services

The HealthNet constellation provided email services, access to news, electronic conferences, and offline access to websites using a store-and-forward message scheme. The news included selected abstracts and summaries of major medical journals. It also included several newsletters published by HealthNet. Electronic conferences were for discussing medical topics electronically, including ProMED-mail.[3]

Constellation

Healthsat-1

Healthsat-1 was launched in 1990 as UoSAT-3 (named for the University of Surrey, one of the mission sponsors). It was later transferred to SatelLife and renamed Healthsat-1.[4]

Healthsat-2

Healthsat 2
Mission typeCommunication
OperatorSatelLife, Wavix
COSPAR ID1993-061E
SATCAT no.22827
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeMicrosat-70
ManufacturerSSTL
Start of mission
Launch date26 September 1993, 01:45 UTC
RocketAriane-40 V59[5]
Launch siteKourou ELA-2
ContractorArianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLEO
Perigee altitude797 kilometres (495 mi)
Apogee altitude821 kilometres (510 mi)
Inclination98.6º
Period100.8 minutes
 

Healthsat-2 (later WavSat-1) was purpose-built for the HealthNet constellation by Surrey Satellite Technology.[6] In 1993, it provided communications to CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent while it was in the Northwest passage, reported as the first use of Low Earth Orbit communications near the North Pole.[7] In 1998, SatelLife announced an agreement to share unused capacity from Healthsat-2 with Volunteers In Technical Assistance (VITA), who would operate Healthsat-2 as VITASat 1R.[8][9] Operations were transferred to satellite communications company Wavix, which continued operating the satellite as WavSat-1.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Myers, Glenda (1993-01-01). "Electronic health information services: a review". The Electronic Library. 11 (4/5): 283–287. doi:10.1108/eb045247. ISSN 0264-0473. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  2. ↑ Rifkin, Glenn (22 January 1996). "Bringing Advanced Medical Expertise to the World's Poorest Regions". The New York Times. Section D. p. 5.
  3. ↑ Assefa, Shimelis Getu (Aug–Sep 2001). "Reaching the unreachable: The role of HealthNet Ethiopia in disseminating electronic health information resources". Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 27 (6): 20–21.
  4. ↑ "UoSat 3, 4, 5 (UO 14, 15, 22 / UoSAT-OSCAR 14, 15, 22) / Healthsat 1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Telemetry Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Healthsat 2 → WavSat 1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  7. ↑ House, A. M. (1996). "Satellite Technology in Health Care: An Undeveloped Resource". Selected Papers on Remote Sensing, Satellite Communications, and Space Science. Seminars of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications. 7: 99–100. Bibcode:1996UNPSA...7...97H. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "VITASAT AGREES SATELLIFE SHARING ARRANGEMENT - ProQuest". ProQuest 221059780. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  9. ↑ "Wavix Gets Contract For Store-And-Forward Terminals - Document - Gale General OneFile". Retrieved 2022-06-12.
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