On July 26, 1963 NASA fired a Delta B rocket from Cape Canaveral, carrying Syncom 2 (Syncom 1 had been lost after its electronics failed) to become the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite (comsat).
Syncom 2’s successful performance in space became a harbinger for today’s satellite-linked world. In Syncom 2’s first year in orbit, there were hundreds of communication tests, including the first satellite telephone call between heads of state - US President John F Kennedy and the Prime Minister of Nigeria.
Syncom 2 also tested successfully tested video and TV links in September 1963. The satellite is still orbiting the Earth, 46 years after launch.
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