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List of communications satellite firsts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Milestones in the history ofcommunications 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. PresidentDwight 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 Firstamateur 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 theassassinationandfuneral 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 ingeosynchronous orbit July 16, 1963 United States
Syncom 3 First communications satellite ingeostationary orbit
FirstOlympicbroadcast 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 onsatellite 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 bethree-axis stabilized
First experimentalDirect 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 serialDirect-To-HomeTV 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-timecommunications relay networkfor other spacecraft April 4, 1983 United States
ACTS Gigabit Satellite Network Firstcommunication satellitenetwork to operate in the 20-30 GHz frequency band September 12, 1993 United States
Iridium 1 First satellite forsatellite telephoneservice May 5, 1997 United States
AO-40 First satellite to useGPSfor navigation and attitude determination inHigh 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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcd"Appendix B".History.nasa.gov.Retrieved2016-03-12.
  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.S2CID41507183.
  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.Retrieved20 February2023.
  4. ^"GPS-Based Navigation and Orbit Determination for the AMSAT AO-40 Satellite"(PDF).American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 2002. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 10 July 2011.Retrieved11 January2011.
  5. ^"A world first: data transmission between European satellites using laser light".