Broadband for applications at sea is an area that is experiencing rapid growth and one that demands increasingly fast data transfer speeds. Levels of use are blossoming as communication, control and monitoring are increasingly being carried via onshore operative nodes. Inmarsat and Iridium, the two transmission systems currently in use, have reached their saturation point, and the next generation of satellite communication for the maritime industry is now starting to take shape. Several satellite operators are on the verge of launching global capacity to cover the world's seas.