List of communications satellite firsts
Appearance
This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(March 2016) |
Milestones in the history ofcommunications satellites.
Satellite | First | Launched | Polity |
---|---|---|---|
Sputnik 1 | First satellite with radio transmitter[1] | October 4, 1957 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
TIROS-1 | First satellite to transmit television images from space (weather) | April 1, 1960 | ![]() |
Echo 1 | First passive reflector communications satellite | August 12, 1960 | ![]() |
Courier 1B | First active repeater communications satellite First communications satellite powered by solar cells to recharge storage batteries |
October 4, 1960 | ![]() |
OSCAR 1 | Firstamateur radio satellite First satellite ejected into orbit as a secondary launch payload |
December 12, 1961 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
Syncom 2 | First communications satellite ingeosynchronous orbit | July 16, 1963 | ![]() |
Syncom 3 | First communications satellite ingeostationary orbit FirstOlympicbroadcast to international audiences First tandem satellite broadcast (with Relay 1) |
August 19, 1964 | ![]() |
OSCAR-III | First amateur radio communications satellite (relay/transponder); first OSCAR powered by solar cells | March 9, 1965 | ![]() |
Intelsat I | First commercial communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit[1] | April 6, 1965 | ![]() |
Orbita | First national TV network based onsatellite television | November 1967 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
Anik 1 | First domestic communications satellite system using geosynchronous orbit (Canada) | November 9, 1972 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
Symphonie | First geostationary communications satellite with unified propulsion system for station-keeping | December 19, 1974 | ![]() ![]() |
AO-6&AO-7 | First satellite-to-satellite communications relay (ground -> AO-7 -> AO-6 -> ground)[2] | January 1975 (occurred) | ![]() |
Ekran | First serialDirect-To-HomeTV communication satellite | October 26, 1976 | ![]() |
SBS-3 | First commercial use of the U.S. Space Shuttle | November 11, 1982 | ![]() |
Tracking and data relay satellite-A | First satellite of first full-timecommunications relay networkfor other spacecraft | April 4, 1983 | ![]() |
ACTS Gigabit Satellite Network | Firstcommunication satellitenetwork to operate in the 20-30 GHz frequency band | September 12, 1993 | ![]() |
Iridium 1 | First satellite forsatellite telephoneservice | May 5, 1997 | ![]() |
AO-40 | First satellite to useGPSfor navigation and attitude determination inHigh Earth orbit[3][4] | November 16, 2000 | ![]() ![]() |
Artemis | First demonstration of inter-satellite laser communication[5] | November 21, 2001 (experiment) | ![]() |
SuitSat | First use of a decommissioned spacesuit as a radio satellite | February 3, 2006 (deployed) | ![]() ![]() |
BRIsat | First satellite owned and operated by a bank | October 18, 2016 (Launch) | ![]() |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abcd"Appendix B".History.nasa.gov.Retrieved2016-03-12.
- ^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.
- ^"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.
- ^"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.
- ^"A world first: data transmission between European satellites using laser light".