Stone to Silicon

Communication · 1962

Telstar communications satellite

Live television crosses the Atlantic by satellite for the first time.

Bell Labs' Telstar 1, launched in July 1962, relayed the first live transatlantic TV pictures and telephone calls. It proved active communications satellites worked, starting an industry that now carries broadcast TV, internet backhaul and navigation.

See it in the living treeWikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 4

What it led to 2

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Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Objects launched into space Latest: 4.51k per year (2025) Source: Our World in Data