Telstar is the name of various
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...
s. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical.
Telstar 1
Telstar 1 was a communications satellite launched by NASA on July 10, 1962. It was the satellite that allowed the first live broadcast of television images between the United States and Europe. Telstar 1 remained active for only 7 months before i ...
launched on top of a
Thor-Delta
The Thor-Delta, also known as Delta DM-19 or just Delta was an early American expendable launch system used for 12 orbital launches in the early 1960s. A derivative of the Thor-Able, it was a member of the Thor family of rockets, and the first ...
rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the first television pictures, telephone calls, and
telegraph images, and provided the first live transatlantic television feed. Telstar 2 launched May 7, 1963. Telstar 1 and 2—though no longer functional—still orbit the Earth.
Description
Belonging to
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
, the original Telstar was part of a multi-national agreement among AT&T (USA),
Bell Telephone Laboratories
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mul ...
(USA),
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
(USA),
GPO GPO may refer to:
Government and politics
* General Post Office, Dublin
* General Post Office, in Britain
* Social Security Government Pension Offset, a provision reducing benefits
* Government Pharmaceutical Organization, a Thai state enterpris ...
(United Kingdom) and the
National PTT (France) to develop experimental
satellite communications
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...
over the Atlantic Ocean. Bell Labs held a contract with NASA, paying the agency for each launch, independent of success.
Six ground stations were built to communicate with Telstar, one each in the US, France, the UK, Canada, West Germany and Italy. The American ground station—built by Bell Labs—was
Andover Earth Station
Andover Earth Station was one of the first satellite earth stations, located at Andover in the US state of Maine. It was built by AT&T in 1961 to communicate with the Telstar 1 satellite, the first direct relay communications satellite. It pro ...
, in Andover, Maine. The main British ground station was at
Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
, as international coordinator, used this location. The standards
conversion equipment (filling a large room) was researched and developed by the BBC and located in the
, London. The French ground station was at
. The Canadian ground station was at
. The German ground station was at Raisting in
. The Italian ground station (
.
The satellite was built by a team at Bell Telephone Laboratories that included