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September 28, 2008 – The Falcon 1 rocket’s fourth launch was the first success for Space Exploration Technology Corp. (SpaceX), and marked the entrance of the first privately funded, liquid-fuelled […]

July 20, 1969: The first landing on the moon by Apollo 11 was broadcast “”live via satellite”” to a global audience over Intelsat satellites. Intelsat also provided communications support for […]

August 3, 1995: With the successful launch of PAS 4 aboard an Ariane 4 launcher, PanAmSat became the first private satellite company to achieve global coverage. The Hughes-built HS-601 satellite […]

August 20, 2004: An investment group including Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts, the Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners purchased PanAmSat from the News Corporation’s DirecTV Group for $2.6 billion in cash. […]

December 1, 2008 – China launched a new remote sensing satellite aboard a Chinese CZ-2D Chang Zheng 2D launch vehicle. The satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space […]

April 24, 1970: Dong Fang Hong 1, also known as China 1, was launched aboard China’s Long March 1 rocket as part of the PRC’s Dong Fang Hong (“”The East […]

January 13, 1996: The launch of Measat 1, built by Boeing and launched on an Ariane 4 rocket, put Malaysia’s first satellite into orbit. The Boeing 376 spacecraft weighed 1.6 […]

August 29, 2005: Intelsat and PanAmSat announced that the two companies would merge in a $6.4 billion deal that would create the world’s largest satellite carrier with 51 spacecraft in […]

February 10, 2009 – An Iridium satellite and a Russian Cosmos satellite collided in the first-ever satellite crash. According to the U.S. Strategic Command’s Space Surveillance Network, the collision left […]

June 7-July 17, 1971: The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) convened the World Administrative Radio Conference for Space Telecommunications (WARC-ST) and determined the frequency allocations for Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS) Click […]

August 19, 1997: The launch of Agila 2 added the Philippines to the list of satellite nations. Designed and built by Space Systems/Loral for the Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation, Agila […]

June 18, 2006: Kazakhstan became the 44th satellite nation when a Russian Proton-K-DM3 launcher put Kazsat 1 into GEO orbit. The 1.5-ton (1380kg) satellite, built by GKNPT Krunichev, carried 12 […]

August 21, 1971: The final treaty for the creation of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) was signed by 11 national governments, creating the predecessor organization to today’s Intelsat Click […]

March 31, 1998: The 22nd meeting of the Intelsat Assembly of Parties unanimously approved the creation of a private, independent spin-off company, New Skies Satellites, to be based in The […]

November 17, 2006: Arqiva, a British provider of satellite and terrestrial communications services, announced that it would acquire the Satellite Broadcast Services business of BT for 25 million pounds in […]

The seminal event of the 1970’s was the””Open Skies”” ruling by the US Federal Communications Commission, which favored competition in satellite services and set a precedent that influenced government policy […]

February 23, 1999: The launch of the Stellenbosch University Satellite (SUNSAT) added South Africa to the list of satellite nations. This micro-satellite, designed and built by electrical engineering students at […]

December 18, 2006: Loral Space and Communications announced an agreement with a Canadian partner, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) to acquire 100% of Telesat Canada from Bell […]

October 1945: former British Radar Establishment Officer and space guru Arthur C. Clarke published an article in Wireless World envisioning a global communications network provided by three manned space stations […]

April 13,1974: Western Union and NASA joined forces to launch Westar 1, the first commercially-launched American domestic communications satellite. Built by Hughes using the HS-333 spin-stabilized platform, Westar 1 was […]

October 29, 1999: In Penang, Malaysia, the INTELSAT Assembly of Parties, including representatives of all 143 member governments, voted unanimously to privatize the treaty organization that created the world’s first […]

January 11, 2007 – China conducted an anti-satellite missile test. The target of the test – a Chinese weather satellite – was destroyed, leaving an estimated 40,000 fragments from 1 […]

April 1955: Dr. John R. Pierce’s article, “”Orbital Radio Relays”” in Jet Propulsion, discussed both active and passive satellite “”repeaters”” and outlined the concept behind what would become the Echo […]

April 19, 1975: Launched by the Soviet Union from Kapustin Yar, Aryabhata was India’s first satellite, named after a ancient Indian mathematician (5th century AD). Aryabhata was built by the […]

March 17, 2000: US President Bill Clinton signed into law the Open-market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications (ORBIT) Act, with the goal of helping to promote a more […]

January 30, 2007 – A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket, carrying the NSS-8 satellite, exploded on the launch pad. The explosion occurred during main engine ignition. A Failure Review Board […]

October 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into low earth orbit, giving birth to the age of satellites and space applications Click here to […]

Before 1975, cable TV was largely a rural industry that brought remote areas better reception and more channels. Then the October 1, 1975 Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier boxing match, carried live […]

October 21, 2000: Thuraya 1, the United Arab Emirates’ first satellite, was inserted into GEO orbit by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. […]

March 11, 2007 – The Orbital Express mission of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed history’s first satellite-to-satellite hardware transfer in orbit. The mission aimed to test […]