Scrapbook 3: Out of the 'Complex'—Telstar

OUT OF THE ‘COMPLEX’—TELSTAR

Telstar, the successful American communications satellite launched last month, gave this country a vital first in space. It also was an achievement for which private industry and the military services deserve credit.

Telstar represents an investment of about $53 million by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. The radio receiving equipment located at Andover, Maine, grew out of a Bell Laboratories effort that goes back to 1939.

At that time technicians in Bell Labs were involved in a research effort without knowing what final application would be found for their work. It was work that was put aside for higher priority items during World War II and taken down from the shelf when the technology developed during that war led to the possibility that military missile capabilities would push us into the space age.

The propulsion for Telstar came out of the joint efforts of USAF, Douglas Aircraft Co., the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, and their associated subcontractors in the Thor missile project.