The world’s first active communications satellite

On July 10, 1962, Telstar 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. as the first commercial payload in space. Two days later, the world’s first active communications satellite transmitted the first global television signal. A.S.Ganesh tells you how Telstar 1 ushered in a new era of communication...

We take global live broadcasts for granted these days. And yet, there was a time, not too far back, when worldwide broadcasts weren’t a reality. In fact, it was only in 1962 that information truly went global with the Telstar 1 mission. An international collaboration among AT&T, Bell Telephone Laboratories, NASA, the British General Post Office, and the French National Post, Telegram, and Telegraph Office was at the heart of the Telstar mission. It was chiefly developed by Bell Labs for AT&T, and its onboard equipment was powered by a solar array along with a battery back-up system.