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KF5JRV > TECH 18.05.16 13:31l 24 Lines 1479 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 3154_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Early Bird INTELSAT 1
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ<KF5JRV
Sent: 160518/1115Z 3154@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK1.4.65
INTELSAT 1: The First Commercial Communications Satellite to be Placed in
Geosynchronous Orbit April 6, 1965
On April 6, 1965, Intelsat I (nicknamed Early Bird), was placed in
geosynchronous orbit above the Atlantic Ocean by a Thrust Augmented Delta D
rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Built by the Space and
Communications Group of Hughes Aircraft Company (later Hughes Space and
Communications Company, and now Boeing Satellite Systems) for COMSAT,
Intelsat I was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in
geosynchronous orbit, and the first satellite to provide direct and near
instantaneous contact between Europe and North America. It handled television,
telephone, and facsimile transmissions. It measured nearly 76 x 61 cm and
weighed 34.5 kg.
"It [Intelsat I] helped provide the first live TV coverage of a spacecraft
splashdown, that of Gemini 6 in December 1965. Originally slated to operate
for 18 months, Early Bird was in active service for four years, being
deactivated in January 1969, although it was briefly activated in June of that
year to serve the Apollo 11 flight when the Atlantic Intelsat satellite
failed. It was deactivated again in August 1969 and has been inactive since
that time (except for a brief reactivation in 1990 to commemorate its 25th
launch anniversary), although it remains in orbit. . . .Early Bird was one of
the satellites used in the then record-breaking broadcast of Our World".
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