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Satellite Communications History – The First Communications Satellite
By Editor | October 29, 2007
Some say that after the Soviet’s launch of Sputnik I, the benefits, profits, and prestige of satellite communications was what drove the United States into the space race with their rivals. Satellite communications history was made when the first real organized entity was formed to handle space exploration. July of 1958 the U.S. Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act that formed NASA.
Although NASA was formed as a scientific and “peaceful” research organization the U.S. Congress ensured that we did not lose our strategic advantage in the arms race with the Soviet Union. They gave the Department of Defense responsibility for developing and launching active communications satellites that would provide amplified satellite communications signals for high quality communications world wide.
In 1958 the United States launched Explorer I. Explorer I carried a very small payload similar to Sputnik I and was responsible for the discovery of radiation belts that surrounded the Earth.
Satellite communications history was again made when the United States launched the very first communications satellite into orbit in December of 1958. The communications satellite was called SCORE which stands for Signal Communications Orbital Relay. It broadcast a Christmas message from the then President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower. The message was “Peace on Earth, good will toward men.” SCORE orbited the planet for 12 days. Due to the fact that this occurred during the arms race, the overall objective of the launching of SCORE was not for “good will” but to prove atlas missiles could be placed in orbit to gain an advantage over the Soviets in space.
1958 was a big year in satellite communications history. The United States and the Soviet’s combined launched a total of six satellites. Not to be out done by the other the U.S. and Soviets stepped up the pace and launched fourteen satellites in 1959. Satellite communications history’s record books remained open and the ink would not dry before nineteen satellites where launched in 1960 and a whopping 35 in 1961. Then in 1962 Canada and the United Kingdom launched satellites of their own which intensified the space race as it expanded into the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries. All the while, this same year the Soviets and United States upped their competition and entries into the chronicles of satellite communications history by launching a combined 70 satellites.
Topics: Satellite Communications History |
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