On July 10, 1962, the communications satellite Telstar 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to beam live television from Europe to the United States. This was the first privately sponsored space-faring mission.
Telstar 1 in Pictures: Legacy of 1st TV Communications Satellite
Related stories:
Two days after the launch, Telstar 1 transmitted the world’s first transatlantic television signal. This demonstrated that transmitting information via satellite was feasible.
Telstar transmitted images of President John F. Kennedy, singer Yves Montand from France, sporting events, Mount Rushmore, and the American flag waving. The satellite was only operational until November of 1962. In that time, it assisted over 400 telephone, facsimile, telegraph, and television transmissions.
Catch up on our entire “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist (opens in new tab).
On This Day in Space Archive!
[embedded content]
Still not enough space? Don’t forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week.
Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
