Communications satellites relay radio telecommunications signals via a transponder, creating a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. There are over 2000 communications satellites in Earth's orbit, used by both private and government organizations. They are used for television, telephony, radio, internet, and military applications. The International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC) is one of the most influential technical conferences in the field. The 36th edition was held in October 2018 in Niagara Falls, Canada. These proceedings present a broad spectrum of space communications contributions from the conference, from the evolution of GEO from traditional area coverage to Ultra High Throughput Satellites (UHTS), the growing number of mega constellations expected to enter service in the next decade, navigation applications such as vehicle autonomy, wideband data backhaul from scientific and remote sensing payloads in LEO, and the extension of the 5G and beyond network to near earth, lunar and deep space environments in support of human exploration.