50 years of geosynchronous satellites!

[Martyn]

Today, April 6, marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Intelsat I.

Per Wikipedia.... Intelsat I (nicknamed Early Bird for the proverb "The early bird catches the worm") was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, on April 6, 1965.[1][2] It was built by the Space and Communications Group of Hughes Aircraft Company (later Hughes Space and Communications Company, and nowBoeing Satellite Systems) for COMSAT, which activated it on June 28. It was based on the satellite that Hughes had built for NASA to demonstrate that communications via synchronous-orbit satellite were feasible. Its booster was a Thrust Augmented Delta (Delta D). After a series of maneuvers, it reached its geosynchronous orbital position over the Atlantic Ocean at 28° west longitude, where it was put into service.

Lots more here: http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/intelsat-1.htm

And even better, it's still in orbit at 132 west right now, inclined 2 degrees ... but dead! http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=1317

 

[TNGTony]

Thanks for posting this. Point of order: Geostationary, not just geosynchronous.

 

[KE4EST]

Thanks for posting this piece of trivia, pretty neat!

 

[. Raine]

Either term could be correct, a geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit in the plane of the equator.

 

[TNGTony]

As I said. Not JUST geosynchronous. All geostationary orbits are geosynchronous. Not all geosynchronous orbits are geostationary. No big deal, just a point of order.

 

[. Raine]

As I said. Not JUST geosynchronous. All geostationary orbits are geosynchronous. Not all geosynchronous orbits are geostationary. No big deal, just a point of order.

Ah, I did miss the 'just' in the first post!