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Echo - A Passive Communications Satellite

Echo, NASA's first communications satellite, was a passive spacecraft based on a balloon design created by an engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center. Made of Mylar, the satellite measured 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter. Once in orbit, residual air inside the balloon expanded, and the balloon began its task of reflecting radio transmissions from one ground station back to another. Echo satellites, like this one, generated a lot of interest because they could be seen with the naked eye from the ground as they passed overhead. Echo 1 was launch August 12, 1960.

 

In this image, a static inflation test of the 135-foot Echo II satellite takes place in the dirigible hangar at Weeksville, North Carolina.

 

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Credit: NASA

Image Number: LRC-1961-B701_P-03388

Date: May 18, 1961

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Uploaded on May 18, 2025
Taken on May 18, 1961