History of Satellite Systems

There is a long history of the development of satellites system from a communications point of view. Some important events are shown below in a tabular form:

Year	Description
1945	Arthur C. Clarke publishes an essay titled "Extra Terrestrial Relays"
1957	First satellite, SPUTNIK
1960	First Reflecting communication satellite, ECHO
1963	First Geostationary satellite, SYNCOM
1965	First Commercial geostationary satellite, "Early Bird" (INTEKSAT I): 240 duplex telephone channels or 1 TV channel, 1.5 year lifetime.
1976	Three MARISAT satellites for maritime communication.
1982	First mobile satellite telephone system, INMARSAT - A
1988	First satellite system for mobile phones and data communication, INMARSAT -C
1993	First digital satellite telephone system
1998	Global satellite systems for small mobile phones.