Geosynchronous Satellite - History

History

The concept was first proposed by Herman Potočnik in 1928 and popularised by the science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke in a paper in Wireless World in 1945. Working prior to the advent of solid-state electronics, Clarke envisioned a trio of large, manned space stations arranged in a triangle around the planet. Modern satellites are numerous, unmanned, and often no larger than an automobile.

Widely known as the "father of the geosynchronous satellite", Harold Rosen, an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company, invented the first operational geosynchronous satellite, Syncom 2. It was launched on a Delta rocket B booster from Cape Canaveral July 26, 1963. A few months later Syncom 2 was used for the world's first satellite-relayed telephone call. It took place between United States President John F. Kennedy and Nigerian Prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

The first geostationary communication satellite was Syncom 3, launched on August 19, 1964 with a Delta D launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral. The satellite, in orbit approximately above the International Date Line, was used to telecast the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to the United States. It was the first television program to cross the Pacific Ocean.