List of communications satellite firsts

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

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Appendix B". History.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
^ 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. S2CID 41507183.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "A world first: data transmission between European satellites using laser light".

[nasah-1] "Appendix B". History.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-12.

[IEEE_Xplore-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".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Satellite communications
Main articles	Satellite television Satellite radio Satellite Internet access Amateur satellite Ground station High-throughput satellite Relay satellite Transponder Carriage dispute
Hardware	SAT>IP Monoblock LNB DiSEqC USALS Automatic Tracking Satellite Dish Motor-driven Satellite dish Multi-satellite Satellite dish (Parabolic antennas) Satellite phone Satellite modem Satellite data unit Spacebus Very-small-aperture terminal
Satellite radio / TV	DVB-SH S-DMB DVB-RCS DVB-S2 DVB-S2X ISDB-S3 Digital audio radio service
Broadcast companies	Astra Digital Radio DirecTV Dish Network Sirius XM Holdings Sky UK Allente 1worldspace
Relay satellite companies	AST SpaceMobile EchoStar Eutelsat Globalstar Hispasat Hughes Inmarsat Intelsat Intersputnik Iridium SED Systems SES Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology Star One Starlink Telesat Tooway Turksat Viasat
Satellite manufacturers	Airbus Boeing INVAP Lockheed Martin Northrop Grumman SpaceX SSL Thales Alenia Space
Trade organizations	Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems ETSI Satellite Digital Radio
Lists	List of communications satellite firsts List of communication satellite companies
Category Commons

v t e Telecommunications
History	Beacon Broadcasting Cable protection system Cable TV Communications satellite Computer network Data compression audio DCT image video Digital media Internet video online video platform social media streaming Drums Edholm's law Electrical telegraph Fax Heliographs Hydraulic telegraph Information Age Information revolution Internet Mass media Mobile phone Smartphone Optical telecommunication Optical telegraphy Pager Photophone Prepaid mobile phone Radio Radiotelephone Satellite communications Semaphore Phryctoria Semiconductor device MOSFET transistor Smoke signals Telecommunications history Telautograph Telegraphy Teleprinter (teletype) Telephone The Telephone Cases Television digital streaming Undersea telegraph line Videotelephony Whistled language Wireless revolution
Pioneers	Nasir Ahmed Edwin Howard Armstrong Mohamed M. Atalla John Logie Baird Paul Baran John Bardeen Alexander Graham Bell Emile Berliner Tim Berners-Lee Francis Blake (telephone) Jagadish Chandra Bose Charles Bourseul Walter Houser Brattain Vint Cerf Claude Chappe Yogen Dalal Daniel Davis Jr. Donald Davies Amos Dolbear Thomas Edison Lee de Forest Philo Farnsworth Reginald Fessenden Elisha Gray Oliver Heaviside Robert Hooke Erna Schneider Hoover Harold Hopkins Gardiner Greene Hubbard Internet pioneers Bob Kahn Dawon Kahng Charles K. Kao Narinder Singh Kapany Hedy Lamarr Innocenzo Manzetti Guglielmo Marconi Robert Metcalfe Antonio Meucci Samuel Morse Jun-ichi Nishizawa Charles Grafton Page Radia Perlman Alexander Stepanovich Popov Tivadar Puskás Johann Philipp Reis Claude Shannon Almon Brown Strowger Henry Sutton Charles Sumner Tainter Nikola Tesla Camille Tissot Alfred Vail Thomas A. Watson Charles Wheatstone Vladimir K. Zworykin
Transmission media	Coaxial cable Fiber-optic communication optical fiber Free-space optical communication Molecular communication Radio waves wireless Transmission line telecommunication circuit
Network topology and switching	Bandwidth Links Nodes terminal Network switching circuit packet Telephone exchange
Multiplexing	Space-division Frequency-division Time-division Polarization-division Orbital angular-momentum Code-division
Concepts	Communication protocol Computer network Data transmission Store and forward Telecommunications equipment
Types of network	Cellular network Ethernet ISDN LAN Mobile NGN Public Switched Telephone Radio Television Telex UUCP WAN Wireless network
Notable networks	ARPANET BITNET CYCLADES FidoNet Internet Internet2 JANET NPL network Toasternet Usenet
Locations	Africa Americas North South Antarctica Asia Europe Oceania (Global telecommunications regulation bodies)
Telecommunication portal Category Outline Commons

See also

References