Space Support to Operations

1945 · 81 years ago

Arthur C. Clarke proposed the concept of the geostationary communications satellite

Writing in a technical magazine, the British engineer and writer described how three satellites in a fixed orbit above the equator could relay signals across the entire globe, a concept realised commercially two decades later.

1958 · 68 years ago

Explorer 1 became the first American satellite reaching orbit

Launched in response to Sputnik, the satellite carried instruments that discovered the Van Allen radiation belts circling the Earth, giving the young space age its first major scientific finding and starting NASA's Explorer science programme.

1962 · 64 years ago

Telstar 1 relayed the first live television pictures across the Atlantic

The satellite, a joint project of American, British and French organisations, proved that a satellite in low Earth orbit could carry live transatlantic broadcasts, though its limited orbit meant coverage lasted only a short window each day.

1964 · 62 years ago

Intelsat was founded as an international satellite communications consortium

Formed by a group of governments to build and operate a shared global communications satellite system, it became the model for international cooperation in satellite infrastructure before commercial operators later took over much of the market.

1965 · 61 years ago

Intelsat's Early Bird became the first commercial satellite in geostationary orbit

Positioned over the Atlantic, the satellite could relay television and hundreds of telephone circuits between North America and Europe simultaneously, demonstrating that a single geostationary satellite could replace undersea cables for many purposes.

1970 · 56 years ago

China launched Dong Fang Hong 1, its first satellite

The satellite broadcast a patriotic song from orbit and made China the fifth country to launch its own satellite, an early step in a space programme that later built the BeiDou navigation constellation and an independent space station.

1982 · 44 years ago

The Soviet Union launched the first satellite of its GLONASS navigation system

The launch began a Soviet, and later Russian, alternative to GPS, intended to ensure the country was not dependent on an American-controlled system for military and civilian positioning, though the constellation struggled with funding gaps after the Soviet collapse.

1995 · 31 years ago

GPS was declared fully operational with 24 satellites in orbit

The completed constellation gave the United States military and, increasingly, civilian users worldwide continuous positioning coverage, cementing American leadership in satellite navigation for the following quarter century.

2000 · 26 years ago

The United States turned off GPS Selective Availability

Removing the deliberate degradation of civilian GPS signals instantly improved public positioning accuracy from around 100 metres to a few metres, accelerating the technology's adoption in navigation, agriculture, shipping and eventually smartphones worldwide.

2011 · 15 years ago

XM Satellite Radio operated its constellation until 2011

XM Satellite Radio maintained a satellite constellation for digital radio broadcasting until 2011. Its consolidation illustrates the commercial fragility of specialised broadcast constellations.

2013 · 13 years ago

Sirius Satellite Radio operated its satellite radio constellation until 2013

Sirius Satellite Radio ran a dedicated constellation providing broadcast radio services until 2013. It represented an early commercial application of constellations for direct-to-consumer broadcasting rather than point-to-point communication.

2018 · 8 years ago

Telesat launched two Telesat LEO prototype satellites

Telesat placed two prototype spacecraft in low Earth orbit in 2018 to test its planned broadband constellation. Prototype launches of this kind marked the beginning of a wave of competing LEO broadband proposals.

December 2018 · 8 years ago

CASIC launched a Hongyun prototype satellite

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation orbited a prototype for its Hongyun broadband constellation in December 2018. It signalled Chinese state entry into the LEO communications constellation race.

December 2018 · 8 years ago

CASC launched a Hongyan prototype satellite

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation launched a Hongyan prototype in December 2018, in parallel with the rival Hongyun effort. The two Chinese programmes were later considered for merger.

2019 · 7 years ago

LeoSat shut down completely

LeoSat ceased operations entirely in 2019 before deploying an operational constellation. Its collapse showed the capital intensity and investor risk of proposed LEO networks.

February 2019 · 7 years ago

OneWeb orbited six pilot satellites for its broadband constellation

OneWeb launched six pilot spacecraft in February 2019 to validate its planned global broadband network. The pilots preceded a rapid deployment campaign that reached 74 satellites by March 2020.

24 May 2019 · 7 years ago

SpaceX launched the first large batch of Starlink satellites

The first Starlink mission on 24 May 2019 placed sixty satellites in low Earth orbit on a single Falcon 9 rocket, beginning deployment of what became the largest satellite constellation. It marked the start of a mega-constellation model built on mass-produced, cheaply launched spacecraft, a template later followed by rivals in the United States, Europe and China; by late November 2020 some 904 Starlink satellites were in orbit.

Early 2026 · this year

Amazon raced to meet a regulatory deadline for its satellite constellation

Having begun launching production satellites in 2025, Amazon worked to deploy enough of its Kuiper broadband constellation to satisfy a Federal Communications Commission licence condition requiring roughly half the authorised satellites in orbit by mid-2026.

January 2025 · last year

India launched the NVS-02 navigation satellite

The satellite, intended to expand India's regional NavIC constellation, encountered a propulsion problem after launch that complicated efforts to raise it into its planned orbit, underscoring the technical difficulty of sustaining an independent navigation system.

2025 · last year

African governments granted new licences for Starlink's satellite broadband service

Additional African states approved commercial operation of low-earth-orbit broadband constellations, extending internet access to areas poorly served by fibre or mobile networks, even as some regulators continued to press for local licensing and data rules.

• Existing telecom operators raised concerns about competition

2025 · last year

Russia struggled to replenish its ageing GLONASS constellation

Sanctions restricting access to Western electronic components continued to slow production of replacement navigation satellites, leaving Russia's constellation reliant on ageing spacecraft operating beyond their designed lifespan.

2025 · last year

Japan expanded its Quasi-Zenith Satellite System toward seven satellites

Additional launches moved Japan's regional positioning constellation from four operational satellites toward a planned seven, intended to let the country run a fully independent navigation service over its territory without relying solely on American GPS signals.

2025 · last year

China continued launching its state-backed Guowang broadband constellation

Batches of satellites for the state-led low-earth-orbit internet project reached orbit through the year, building toward a planned constellation of thousands of satellites and running alongside the more commercially oriented Qianfan network.

2025 · last year

Europe launched its first second-generation navigation satellites

The initial pair of Galileo Second Generation satellites reached orbit carrying more capable atomic clocks and signal generators, intended to sharpen the accuracy and resilience of Europe's independent satellite navigation system over the coming decade.

• The launch used a SpaceX rocket rather than a European one

Late 2025 · last year

SpaceX widened direct-to-cell coverage from its Starlink satellites

Satellites fitted with direct-to-cell payloads extended text and early data connectivity to ordinary smartphones in partnership with mobile carriers, reducing dependence on ground infrastructure in remote and disaster-affected areas.

December 2024 · 2 years ago

The European Union signed the contract for its sovereign satellite constellation

The European Union formally contracted the SpaceRISE consortium of established satellite operators to build IRIS2, a government and commercial connectivity constellation intended to reduce Europe's reliance on non-European systems for secure communications.

• The programme targeted initial service later in the decade

August 2024 · 2 years ago

China lost a rocket upper stage that shed debris in orbit

A rocket carrying a batch of Qianfan broadband satellites broke apart after separation, scattering hundreds of pieces of trackable debris in low Earth orbit and prompting warnings to other satellite operators in the vicinity.

April 2024 · 2 years ago

SES began commercial O3b mPOWER service

Service on the O3b mPOWER constellation started in April 2024 after the first six satellites reached orbit. It established a commercially operating medium-Earth-orbit broadband constellation alongside the LEO systems.

October 2023 · 3 years ago

Amazon launched the first Project Kuiper prototypes

Amazon orbited prototype Kuiper satellites in October 2023, four years after its regulatory filing. The launch moved the constellation from paper filing towards operational deployment.

2022–23 · 4 years ago

SES launched the first O3b mPOWER MEO satellites

The first six O3b mPOWER spacecraft were launched between December 2022 and November 2023, with seven more planned for 2024–2026. The system exploited medium Earth orbit, offering round-trip latency near 125 ms against over 600 ms for geostationary links.

November 2020 · 6 years ago

SpaceX opened a public beta of Starlink service in limited latitudes

Starlink began public beta testing in a restricted latitude band in November 2020. This marked the transition of a mega-constellation from deployment to revenue-earning consumer broadband service.

27 March 2020 · 6 years ago

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy after launching 74 satellites

Having reached 74 satellites in orbit by 21 March 2020, OneWeb filed for bankruptcy days later on 27 March 2020. The failure demonstrated that technical deployment progress did not guarantee financial viability for large constellations.

July 2019 · 7 years ago

Amazon made its FCC filing for Project Kuiper

Amazon filed with the US Federal Communications Commission in July 2019 for its Kuiper broadband constellation. Regulatory filing established the spectrum and orbital rights underpinning a further major LEO network.