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Milestones in the history of communications satellites.

Satellite First Launched Polity
Sputnik 1 First satellite with radio transmitter [1] October 4, 1957   Soviet Union
Project SCORE First communications satellite [1]
First test of a space communications relay system
First (recorded) voice transmission (U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower)
December 18, 1958   United States
TIROS-1 First satellite to transmit television images from space (weather) April 1, 1960   United States
Echo 1 First passive reflector communications satellite August 12, 1960   United States
Courier 1B First active repeater communications satellite
First communications satellite powered by solar cells to recharge storage batteries
October 4, 1960   United States
OSCAR 1 First amateur radio satellite
First satellite ejected into orbit as a secondary launch payload
December 12, 1961   United States
Telstar 1 First active, direct-relay communications satellite
First satellite to relay television, telephone and high-speed data communications
First transatlantic television [1]
July 10, 1962   United States
Relay 1 First transpacific television (news of the assassination and funeral procession of U.S. President John F Kennedy)
First tandem satellite broadcast (with Syncom 3)
December 13, 1962   United States
Syncom 2 First communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit July 16, 1963   United States
Syncom 3 First communications satellite in geostationary orbit
First Olympic broadcast to international audiences
First tandem satellite broadcast (with Relay 1)
August 19, 1964   United States
OSCAR-III First amateur radio communications satellite (relay/transponder); first OSCAR powered by solar cells March 9, 1965   United States
Intelsat I First commercial communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit [1] April 6, 1965   United States
Orbita First national TV network based on satellite television November 1967   Soviet Union
Nimbus 3 First satellite-based search and rescue system
First satellite to locate and command remote weather stations to transmit data back to satellite
April 14, 1969   United States
Anik 1 First domestic communications satellite system using geosynchronous orbit ( Canada) November 9, 1972   Canada
ATS-6 First geostationary communications satellite to be three-axis stabilized
First experimental Direct Broadcast Satellite
First satellite to provide communications relay services for other spacecraft ( Nimbus 6)
May 30, 1974   United States
Symphonie First geostationary communications satellite with unified propulsion system for station-keeping December 19, 1974   West Germany
  France
AO-6 & AO-7 First satellite-to-satellite communications relay (ground -> AO-7 -> AO-6 -> ground) [2] January 1975 (occurred)   United States
Ekran First serial Direct-To-Home TV communication satellite October 26, 1976   Soviet Union
SBS-3 First commercial use of the U.S. Space Shuttle November 11, 1982   United States
Tracking and data relay satellite-A First satellite of first full-time communications relay network for other spacecraft April 4, 1983   United States
ACTS Gigabit Satellite Network First communication satellite network to operate in the 20-30 GHz frequency band September 12, 1993   United States
Iridium 1 First satellite for satellite telephone service May 5, 1997   United States
AO-40 First satellite to use GPS for navigation and attitude determination in High Earth orbit [3] [4] November 16, 2000   Germany
  United States
Artemis First demonstration of inter-satellite laser communication [5] November 21, 2001 (experiment)   European Union
SuitSat First use of a decommissioned spacesuit as a radio satellite February 3, 2006 (deployed)   Russia
  United States
BRIsat First satellite owned and operated by a bank October 18, 2016 (Launch)   Indonesia

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Appendix B". History.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  2. ^ Klein, P.I.; Soifer, R. (October 1975). "Intersatellite communication using the AMSAT-OSCAR 6 and AMSAT-OSCAR 7 radio amateur satellites". Proceedings of the IEEE. 63 (10). IEEE: 1526–1527. Bibcode: 1975IEEEP..63.1526K. doi: 10.1109/PROC.1975.9988. S2CID  41507183.
  3. ^ "Preliminary Results of the GPS Flight Experiment on the High Earth Orbit AMSAT OSCAR-40 Spacecraft". 25th Annual AAS Guidance and Control Conference. February 2002. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  4. ^ "GPS-Based Navigation and Orbit Determination for the AMSAT AO-40 Satellite" (PDF). American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  5. ^ "A world first: data transmission between European satellites using laser light".