List of communications satellite firsts

Milestones in the history of communications satellites.

Satellite First Launched Nation
Sputnik 1First satellite with radio transmitter[1]October 4, 1957 Soviet Union
Project SCOREFirst 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-1First satellite to transmit television images from space (weather)April 1, 1960 United States
Echo 1First passive reflector communications satelliteAugust 12, 1960 United States
Courier 1BFirst active repeater communications satellite
First communications satellite powered by solar cells to recharge storage batteries
October 4, 1960 United States
OSCAR 1First amateur radio satellite
First satellite ejected into orbit as a secondary launch payload
December 12, 1961 United States
Telstar 1First 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 1First 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 2First communications satellite in geosynchronous orbitJuly 16, 1963 United States
Syncom 3First communications satellite in geostationary orbit
First Olympic broadcast to international audiences
First tandem satellite broadcast (with Relay 1)
August 19, 1964 United States
OSCAR-IIIFirst amateur radio communications satellite (relay/transponder); first OSCAR powered by solar cellsMarch 9, 1965 United States
MolniyaFirst Soviet communications satellite (military); highly elliptical orbitApril 23, 1965 Soviet Union
Intelsat IFirst commercial communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit[1]April 6, 1965 United States
OrbitaFirst national TV network based on satellite television (Soviet Union)November 1967 Soviet Union
Nimbus 3First 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 1First domestic communications satellite system using geosynchronous orbit (Canada)November 9, 1972 Canada
Westar 1First American domestic commercial geostationary communications satelliteApril 13, 1974 United States
ATS-6First 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
SymphonieFirst geostationary communications satellite with unified propulsion system for station-keepingDecember 19, 1974 West Germany
 France
AO-6 & AO-7First satellite-to-satellite communications relay (ground -> AO-7 -> AO-6 -> ground)[2]January 1975 (occurred) United States
AryabhataFirst Indian satelliteApril 19, 1975 India
Palapa A1First Indonesian communications satelliteJuly 8, 1976 Indonesia
EkranFirst serial Direct-To-Home TV communication satellite
First Soviet operational geosynchronous satellite
October 26, 1976 Soviet Union
SakuraFirst Japanese communications satellite[3]December 15, 1977 Japan
SBS-3First commercial use of the U.S. Space ShuttleNovember 11, 1982 United States
Tracking and data relay satellite-AFirst satellite of first full-time communications relay network for other spacecraftApril 4, 1983 United States
Arabsat-1AFirst communications satellite for the Arab LeagueFebruary 2, 1985 Arab League
Morelos IFirst communications satellite for Mexico[4]June 17, 1985 Mexico
Badr-1First communications satellite of PakistanJuly 16, 1990 Pakistan
ACTS Gigabit Satellite NetworkFirst communication satellite network to operate in the 20-30 GHz frequency bandSeptember 12, 1993 United States
Turksat 1BFirst communications satellite for TurkeyAugust 10, 1994 Turkey
Iridium 1First satellite for satellite telephone serviceMay 5, 1997 United States
AO-40First satellite to use GPS for navigation and attitude determination in HEO[5][6]November 16, 2000 Germany
 United States
ArtemisFirst demonstration of inter-satellite laser communication[7]November 21, 2001 (experiment) European Union
SuitSatFirst use of a decommissioned spacesuit as a radio satelliteFebruary 3, 2006 (deployed) Russia
 United States
ARSAT-1First Argentine communications satellite in geosynchronous orbitOctober 15, 2014 (Launch) Argentina
BRIsatFirst satellite owned and operated by a bankOctober 18, 2016 (Launch) Indonesia
SGDC-1First Brazil communications satellite in geosynchronous orbitMay 4, 2017 (Launch) Brazil
MazaalaiFirst Mongolia communication satelliteJune 4, 2017 (Launch) Mongolia
BulgariaSat-1First Bulgaria communication satellite in geosynchronous orbitJune 23, 2017 (Launch) Bulgaria
Alcomsat-1First Algeria communication satelliteDecember 10, 2017 (Launch) Algeria
Bangabandhu-1First communications satellite of BangladeshMay 11, 2018 (Launch) Bangladesh

See also

  • First images of Earth from space

References

  1. "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. IEEE. 63 (10): 1526–1527. Bibcode:1975IEEEP..63.1526K. doi:10.1109/PROC.1975.9988.
  3. "Past Projects - Satellites and Spacecraft". JAXA. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. "376 Satellite, Morelos, Mexico's First National Satellite System". Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  5. "Preliminary Results of the GPS Flight Experiment on the High Earth Orbit AMSAT OSCAR-40 Spacecraft" (PDF). 25th Annual AAS Guidance and Control Conference. February 2002. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  6. "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.
  7. "A world first: data transmission between European satellites using laser light".
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