J. R. Pierce and his associates at Bell Labs worked throughout the second
half of the 1950's on satellite communications concepts. In the fall of 1960,
AT&T began development of a satellite communications system called Telstar.
The operational system would consist of "between 50 and 120 simple active
satellites in orbits about 7,000 miles high." Using large launch vehicles
that were then being developed, it was envisioned that "a dozen or more of
these satellites could be placed in orbit in a single launching." With the
satellites in random orbits, Bell Labs figured that a "system of 40
satellites in polar orbits and 15 in equatorial orbits would provide service
99.9 per cent of the time between any two points on earth. AT&T has
proposed that the system contain about 25 ground stations so placed as to
provide global coverage." (Pierce, pg. 101)
The cost of such a system would be high, Pierce estimated it at $500 million
in his 1961 article, but that was not a detriment from AT&T's standpoint. As
a monopoly at the time, AT&T's rates were regulated. These rates included an
amount that allowed AT&T to recover its costs as well as make a profit. The
costs of the satellite system would be passed on to consumers just as the high
costs of undersea cables were. Higher cost investments by the monopoly allow
higher profits, so the complex Telstar system was attractive to AT&T.
Bell Telephone Laboratories designed and built the Telstar spacecraft with
AT&T corporate funds. The first Telstars were prototypes that would prove
the concepts behind the large constellation system that was being planned.
NASA's contribution to the project was to launch the satellites and provide some
tracking and telemetry functions, but AT&T bore all the costs of the project
reimbursing NASA $6 million. Although Telstar was not really a NASA project,
NASA was able to negotiate an excellent deal with AT&T because NASA held a
monopoly on launch services. NASA was able to claim Telstar as a NASA supported
project and even publish the report on the results of experimentation as a NASA
publication (SP-32, a reprint of the Bell System Technical Journal articles
about the project), as well as getting rights to any patentable inventions
arising from the experiments.
NASA's Chief of Communications Satellite Programs wrote in 1966:
Although not the first communications satellite, Telstar is the best known of
all and is probably considered by most observers to have ushered in the era of
satellite communications. This impression was a result of the tremendous
impact upon the public by the first transmission of live television across the
Atlantic Ocean. Telstar I was launched on July 10, 1962, and on that same day
live television pictures originating in the United States were received in
France. (Jaffe, pg. 107)
A statement by President Eisenhower in December 1960 layed out his policy on
space communications:
This Nation has traditionally followed a policy of conducting international
telephone, telegraph, and other communications services through private
enterprise subject to governmental licensing and regulation. We have achieved
communications facilities second to none among the nations of the world.
Accordingly, the Government should aggressively encourage private enterprise
in the establishment and operation of satellite relays for revenue-producing
purposes.
To achieve the early establishment of a communication satellite system
which can be used on a commercial basis is a national objective which will
require the concerted capabilities and funds of both Government and private
enterprise and the cooperative participation of communications organizations
in foreign countries.
Various agencies of Government, including the Department of State, the
Department of Defense, and the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, have
important interests and responsibilities in the field of communications.
With regard to communication satellites, I have directed the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration to take the lead within the executive
branch both to advance the needed research and development and to encourage
private industry to apply its resources toward the earliest practicable
utilization of space technology for commercial civil communication
requirements. In carrying out this task NASA will cooperate closely with the
Federal Communications Commission to make certain that the high standards of
this Nation for communications services will be maintained in the utilization
of communication satellites. (Musolf, pg. 17-18)
Eisenhower policy had been to allow private enterprise (in the form of AT&T)
to develop satellite communications. Kennedy policy was not to allow a monopoly
(like the one AT&T then enjoyed in terrestrial communications) in space
communications. NASA had several factors that had to be considered in its
support of satellite research and development. There were many different players
in the government arena alone. The responsibility for active communications
satellites rested with the military according to a 1958 agreement. In August
1960, NASA decided to pursue active satellite research, but left synchronous
satellites to the military since Project Advent was already in place. Although
AT&T and Hughes had both approached NASA with their concepts, NASA, as a
government bureaucracy, had regulations and laws to follow. NASA issued a
request for proposals on January 4, 1961 for an experimental communications
satellite. In May NASA selected RCA for the Relay project over AT&T and
Hughes.
Although it became clear by early 1961 that the policies developed by NASA and
the FCC were not specifically designed to provide the easiest route for
AT&T dominance in the communications satellite field, AT&T's
preeminent position as the largest U.S. common carrier and sole international
telephone carrier, together with its willingness and financial ability to
commit large sums to the development of communication satellites, combined to
give the image that commercial satellite utilization would very likely become
AT&T utilization. Concern over the possibility of an AT&T monopoly was
one factor that prompted a later reorientation of the direction that
commercialization seemed to be following. (Smith, pg. 74)
President Kennedy released a policy statement on July 24, 1961 which favored
private ownership of satellite systems, but with features that would avoid a
monopoly:
A. Policy of Ownership and Operation
Private ownership and operation of the U.S. portion of the system is
favored, provided that such ownership and operation meet the following policy
requirements:
-
New and expanded international communications services be made available
at the earliest practicable date;
-
Make the system global in coverage so as to provide efficient
communication service throughout the whole world as soon as technically
feasible, including service where individual portions of the coverage are
not profitable;
-
Provide opportunities for foreign participation through ownership or
otherwise, in the communications satellite system;
-
Non-discriminatory use of and equitable access to the system by present
and future authorized communications carriers;
-
Effective competition, such as competitive bidding, in the acquisition
of equipment used in the system;
-
Structure of ownership or control which will assure maximum posssible
competition;
-
Full compliance with antitrust legislation and with the regulatory
controls of the government;
-
Development of an economical system, the benefits of which will be
reflected in overseas communication rates.
(Kennedy, pg. 530)
Telstar 1 was launched on July 10, 1962 into a 514 x 3051 nmi. orbit by a Delta
launch vehicle. The spacecraft weighed 171 pounds (the Delta capability was for
a maximum payload of 180 pounds). The shape was a faceted sphere with a diameter
of a little over 34 inches. Of six spacecraft built, two were launched. The
solar cells provided just under 15 watts. The spacecraft was spin stabilized
using the same rate as the third stage (typically 200 rpm) avoiding a despin
mechanism. The receive and transmit antennas consisted of belts of small
apertures (72 and 48 respectively) around the middle of the spacecraft resulting
in a circularly polarized antenna with an isotropic pattern around the equator
of the spacecraft. Frequencies used were 6,390 MHz uplink and 4,170 MHz
downlink. Telstar was the first satellite to use a TWT amplifier since
transistor technology at the time was not capable of the 3 W power output at the
frequency required. (SP-32, pg. 801-830)
AT&T built a ground station in Andover, Maine (away from microwave
repeaters to avoid interference) similar to, but larger than, the ground station
used for Echo. A French station at Pleumeur-Bodou used a duplicate of the
AT&T horn antenna while the British station at Goonhilly Downs used a
parabolic dish. The satellite was in position for transatlantic relay for a
maximum of 102 minutes per day. Telstar relayed the first live trans-Atlantic
television transmission as well as picture facsimile, telephone, and data relay.
On July 9, the day before the Telstar I launch, the U.S. conducted a high
altitude nuclear test (Starfish). Telstar's orbit took it through the Earth's
inner radiation belt as well as a small portion of the outer belt. The radiation
exposure was increased by the Starfish nuclear explosion as well as by a Soviet
test in October 1962. After four months of successful operation, some
transistors in the command system succumbed to the radiation. A workaround was
successful in reviving the spacecraft for two more months.
AT&T's Telstar was not only a tremendous technical success, but the
international reaction was spectacular. A U.S. Information Agency poll showed
that Telstar was better known in Great Britain than Sputnik had been in 1957.
Rather than launching a useless bauble, the Americans had put into orbit a
satellite that promised to tie together the ears and eyes of the world.
Interestingly, the world saw Telstar as an undertaking of the United States
(U.S. Information Agency publicity may have helped). President Kennedy hailed
Telstar as "our American communications satellite" and "this
outstanding symbol of America's space achievements."(Cunniffe, pg. 29)
President Kennedy released a statement on Telstar on July 11, 1962:
The successful firing and subsequent operation of the Telstar communications
satellite is an outstanding example of the way in which government and
business can cooperate in a most important field of human endeavor. The
achievement of the communications satellite while only a prelude already
throws open to us the vision of an era of international communications. There
is no more important field at the present time than communications and we must
grasp the advantages presented to us by the communications satellite to use
this medium wisely and effectively to insure greater understanding among the
peoples of the world.
Even as the success of Telstar I was becoming apparent, AT&T lost the
chance to control commercial satellite communications. On August 31, 1962
President Kennedy signed the Communications Satellite Act which gave a monopoly
on internation communications via satellite to a new corporation called Comsat.
AT&T went ahead with Telstar II anyway to complete its experimental program.
It was launched on May 7, 1963. The publicity from Telstar had been very
positive for AT&T.
AT&T had built six flightworthy spacecraft and launched two of them using
company funds. Bell Labs had developed much of the technology required for
satellite communcations including transistors, solar cells, and TWT amplifiers.
AT&T also built ground stations for Echo and Telstar.
