A satellite (artificial) is a spacecraft placed in orbit around a planet. The first one was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. Some satellites occupy an orbit called the geostationary orbit. It is about 36000 km above the Earth. Geostationary essentially means that the satellite takes approximately 24 hours to orbit the Earth hence it will appear as if it is stationary above the Earth. Geosynchronous is more appropriate for geostationary because it means that it is moving ‘in time’ with the Earth. The first geostationary satellite was Syncom II. In this post I will explore on the satellites which set historic milestones.
Sputnik 1 First artificial Satellite USSR, 1957)
Tiros 1 First weather satellite (USA, 1960)
Syncom II First geostationary satellite (USA, 1965)
Early Bird First commercial communications satellite (USA, 1963)
Telstar 1 Firs TV communications satellite (USA, 1962)
Explorer 1 First US satellite (USA, 1958)
Transit 1B First navigational satellite (USA. 1960)
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