Pleumeur-Bodou Ground Station was an early
ground station in north-west
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, and one of the first in the world. It was the site of the first
satellite transmission between the USA and Europe in the early morning of 11 July 1962 (French time), lasting 19 minutes on the satellite's seventh orbit.
International Astronomical Union 2011
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History
The tracking station was developed by France Télécom, now known as Orange S.A.
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
The site was built by the Centre national d'études des télécommunications, which became France Télécom R&D in 2000.
There was also another nearby tracking station at Lannion
Lannion ( ; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants.
Climate
Lannion ha ...
, which is also the landing point for the Apollo (cable system)
Apollo is an optical submarine communications cable system crossing the Atlantic Ocean, owned by Apollo Submarine Cable System Ltd (a joint venture between Cable & Wireless Worldwide and Alcatel). It consists of 2 segments North and South, cre ...
from the USA.
First transatlantic satellite broadcast
The first transatlantic satellite broadcast took place at the site on the morning of 11 July 1962. Later that day, France broadcast back to the USA via the satellite.
Structure
The site is around three miles east of Trébeurden
Trébeurden (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
Inhabitants of Trébeurden are called ''trébeurdinais'' in French.
International relations
Trébeurden is twinned with:
* Vâlcelel ...
. The site has three large parabolic antennas.
Antennas
* PB8
See also
* Raisting Satellite Earth Station, in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
* TAT-1, first submarine transatlantic telephone cable, on 25 September 1956
* TAT-8, first transatlantic fibre-optic cable
A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...
in 1988
* Transatlantic communications cable
A transatlantic telecommunications cable is a submarine communications cable connecting one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, each cable was a single wire. After mid-century, coaxial cable came into use ...
References
External links
NASA
Parc du Radôme
{{Commons category, Centre de télécommunication spatiale de Pleumeur-Bodou
1962 in technology
Buildings and structures in Côtes-d'Armor
Ground stations
History of Brittany
History of telecommunications in France
Industrial archaeological sites
Orange S.A.
Tourist attractions in Côtes-d'Armor
Transatlantic telecommunications
1962 establishments in France
Buildings and structures completed in 1962