The first artificial satellite was Sputnik 1 launched by Soviet Union on 4 October1957.
In May, 1946, Project RAND released the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship, which stated, "A satellite vehicle with appropriate instrumentation can be expected to be one of the most potent scientific tools of the Twentieth Century. The achievement of a satellite craft would produce repercussions comparable to the explosion of the atomic bomb…"
The space age began in 1946, as scientists began using captured German V-2 rockets to make measurements in the upper atmosphere.[2] Before this period, scientists used balloons that went up to 30 km and radio waves to study the ionosphere. From 1946 to 1952, upper-atmosphere research was conducted using V-2s and Aerobee rockets. This allowed measurements of atmospheric pressure, density, and temperature up to 200 km. (see also: magnetosphere, Van Allen radiation belt)
The United States had been considering launching orbital satellites since 1945 under the Bureau of Aeronautics of the United States Navy. The Air Force'sweapon; rather they considered it to be a tool for science, politics, and propaganda. In 1954, the Secretary of Defense stated, "I know of no American satellite program." Project RAND eventually released the above report, but did not believe that the satellite was a potential military
Following pressure by the American Rocket Society, the National Science Foundation, and the International Geophysical Year, military interest picked up and in early 1955 the Air Force and Navy were working on Project Orbiter, which involved using a Jupiter C rocket to launch a small satellite called Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958.
On July 29, 1955, the White House announced that the U.S. intended to launch satellites by the spring of 1958. This became known as Project Vanguard. On July 31, the Soviets announced that they intended to launch a satellite by the fall of 1957. On October 4, 1957 Sputnik 1 was launched into orbit, which triggered the Space Race between the two already adversarial nations.
The largest artificial satellite currently orbiting the Earth is the International Space Station.
The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) has been tracking space objects since 1957 when the Soviets opened the space age with the launch of Sputnik I. Since then, the SSN has tracked more than 26,000 space objects orbiting Earth. The SSN currently tracks more than 8,000 man-made orbiting objects. The rest have re-entered Earth's turbulent atmosphere and disintegrated, or survived re-entry and impacted the Earth. The space objects now orbiting Earth range from satellites weighting several tons to pieces of spent rocket bodies weighing only 10 pounds. About seven percent of the space objects are operational satellites (i.e. - ~560 satellites), the rest are debris. USSTRATCOM is primarily interested in the active satellites, but also tracks space debris which upon reentry might otherwise be mistaken for incoming missiles. The SSN tracks space objects that are 10 centimeters in diameter (baseball size) or larger.
Telecommunication satellite is a kind of satellite (later explained) that’s very close to our daily life. Arthur C. Clarke was one of the pioneers of this field; he fostered the idea of a worldwide satellite system. Echo I is a passive communication satellite launched in 1960. It was not equipped with a two-way system yet, and it was rather functioned as a reflector. Not very long after then, the Telstar I, an active communication satellite, was launched in 1962, with receiving and transmitting equipment, and was an active participant in the reception-transmission process. Telstar created the world’s first international television link. Therefore, Mirabito & Morgernstern in their book, The New Communication Technologies: Applications, Policy, and Impact, 5th edition, said that Telstar had paved the way for today’s communication spacecraft
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