In 2017, it will be sixty years since the launch of the first artificial object into Earth orbit. «Sputnik 1» was launched on October 4, 1957 from a research site, which later became the «Baikonur» cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. The only thing this device could do was transmit a radio signal every three-tenths of a second.
The launch was carried out during the Cold War between the USA and the USSR. The signals of «Sputnik» informed the whole world that the space race had begun.
Experimental military technologies paved the way for commercial communications and television. What seemed like science fiction yesterday has become reality.
Satellites were used as relay stations, which helped overcome limitations - microwave messages, which only go in a straight line, could not be transmitted further than 30-40 miles, due to the curvature of the Earth's surface.
The only way to increase the distance of microwave transmissions was to place transmitters and receivers at high altitudes - on mountain peaks, tall masts and rooftops of skyscrapers. In addition, tower systems were used to relay the signal - in the early fifties of the last century, AT&T connected the east and west coasts of the USA using such towers.
In the mid-fifties, Dr. John Pierce and his colleagues at Bell Laboratories were working on the concept of an orbital system of satellites that transmit microwave signals. The signal could be sent from ground stations and required the use of only one transit point (directly satellite) between the transmitting and receiving station. It was not until the late 60s that Pierce and his team were able to test other theories. Stanford University called Pierce the «father of communication satellites».
The US response to «Sputnik» was the SCORE project - this system was more of an experimental solution than a means of communication. Nevertheless, it was a harbinger of change to come. On December 18, 1958, the Atlas carrier launched SCORE into orbit - the first attempt by humanity to create two-way satellite communication.
The equipment used in this case, by today's standards, can be called ancient. It was housed in a vacuum tube, used tape equipment for recording and playback. Most signals, after being received, were first recorded and only then transmitted further. The satellite was equipped with several channels for transmitting teletype messages, receiving and transmitting live sound signals in real time. The world became acquainted with this technology when a Christmas message of peace was transmitted from US President Dwight Eisenhower.
The first satellite designed specifically for communication purposes was a large spherical surface that passively reflected the signal back to Earth. The system was built by Bell Laboratories - the research division of Bell Telephone System, and was launched on August 12, 1960.
The satellite, known as Echo 1, was a balloon made of aluminized Mylar (plastic film). This material reflected microwave signals. The satellite, the size of a ten-story building, operated at an altitude of 944 to 1048 miles. Echo was a passive communication satellite. It simply reflected the signal, it did not have electronic parts to amplify and transmit the received signal.
The first active device - a military satellite, which was successfully launched on October 4, 1960 by the US Army. The Courier 1B satellite could relay teletype, voice and photofacsimile messages.
The second active satellite, Telstar 1, was built by AT&T and belonged to a multinational consortium, whose members included AT&T, Bell Laboratories, NASA, the British Post Office and the French National Postal Service. This was the first space launch with a private sponsor. On July 11, 1962, the day after launch, a successful test transatlantic television signal transmission was conducted.
The test broadcast was big news. But something bigger was planned. A public broadcast was made on July 23. The altitude of Telstar's orbit varied from 595 miles to 3506 miles; the satellite orbited the Earth every 158 minutes. As a result, the satellite was in the field of view of the transmitting and receiving ground stations for only 20 minutes on each orbit. Therefore, the program was divided into two parts: the first part was broadcast from North America to Europe. The second part of the broadcast took two and a half hours on the next orbit - now European programs were transmitted to America. The program was successful; it was watched by tens of millions of viewers on three American channels, Canada and 16 European countries.
Planning for television programs began a month before the launch of the satellite. This was a difficult task for the young television industry (at the time of Telstar's launch, it was only about 10 years old).
In a rare unity, American television channels refused to compete in order to produce and simultaneously broadcast the show. The program that was shown in the US was created under the control of a committee whose members were Ted Fetcher from ABC, Gerald Green from NBC and Fred Friendly from CBS. The Boston Globe newspaper gave the program its name - «Television Space Spectacle».
The name Telstar was cool, futuristic and quickly became associated with something chic. Parisian fashion houses created collections dedicated to Telstar. The composition «Telstar» by the British rock band the Tornados took first place in the British and American music charts and filled the airwaves. The name Telstar was given to one of the Ford models, a gaming video system and an Adidas ball, which was very similar to the satellite.
It was planned to launch many such satellites into orbit. But, despite the success of Telstar 1, due to certain events, AT&T withdrew from the international satellite business.
Two years later - on August 19, 1964 - the first geostationary communication satellite was launched.
It was initially assumed that Syncom 3 would be a test model. Its most significant application was the television broadcast of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. On January 1, 1965, Syncom 3 was transferred to the US Department of Defense. But he managed to prove that the future lies with geostationary models.
It took only eight years from the launch of «Sputnik», which could only squeak, to a full live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 1964.
Time passed. Satellites have become commonplace technology. They have become just another tool used in television production. But at the same time, they have connected people living on different continents. Satellites have not only changed the way we watch television. They have influenced how we see the world.