List of communications satellite firsts

Milestones in the history of communications satellites.

{| class="wikitable sticky-header"

!Satellite

!First

!Launched

!Polity

| Sputnik 1 || First satellite with radio transmitter || October 4, 1957 ||

| Project SCORE || First communications satellite || January 1975 (occurred)||

| Ekran || First serial Direct-To-Home TV communication satellite || October 26, 1976 ||

| SBS-3 || First commercial use of the U.S. Space Shuttle || November 11, 1982 ||

| Tracking and data relay satellite-A || First satellite of first full-time communications relay network for other spacecraft || April 4, 1983 ||

| ACTS Gigabit Satellite Network || First communication satellite network to operate in the 20-30 GHz frequency band || September 12, 1993 ||

| Iridium 1 || First satellite for satellite telephone service || May 5, 1997 ||

| AO-40 || First satellite to use GPS for navigation and attitude determination in High Earth orbit || November 16, 2000 || <br>

| Artemis || First demonstration of inter-satellite laser communication || November 21, 2001 (experiment) ||

| SuitSat || First use of a decommissioned spacesuit as a radio satellite || February 3, 2006 (deployed) || <br>

| BRIsat || First satellite owned and operated by a bank || October 18, 2016 (Launch)||

See also