Sep 9, 2016
"Telstar-1 was not only the first experimental active communications satellite to orbit the Earth, it was the first commercial space launch. Built by Bell Labs for AT&T and launched by NASA, it transmitted the very first telephone calls, fax images and television feeds across the Atlantic. If its pattern of solar cells looks vaguely familiar, the ubiquitous black and white-panelled soccer ball we all know was named after it. Though not operational, it still orbits the Earth today" - Brixton Doyle for Space Horizons.
