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| Space Launching Vehicles |
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| To place a satellite into orbit it needs to be accelerated in several stages. The required acceleration is produced by firing rockets at various stages of flight. These rockets are fitted into a system called 'launch vehicle' which carries the satellite. By firing rockets at appropriate heights, the launch vehicle takes the satellite to the desired height and places it in orbit with the required speed. To be self-sufficient in satellite technology a country needs to be able to design and fabricate its own launch vehicles. Several countries offer their launch vehicles commercially to be used by other countries to launch satellites. |
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| In early days of space exploration only the USSR and the USA had successful space programmes. They found new uses for them. In 1962, the US launched Telstar the first active communication satellite. |
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| In 1962, Telstar relayed the first live transatlantic TV transmission, which lasted for 20 minutes |
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| Using this satellite live television pictures from the US were transmitted to Europe for the first time. |
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| Intelsat I launched in 1965 was the first commercial communication satellite. The next step after launching of satellites was to send space probes to planets and their moons. The first successful space probe was Mariner-2 (USA) which passed close to Venus in 1962 and transmitted valuable information about the planet. Venus became the first planet on which a space probe landed successfully. Venera-3 (USSR) attempted to land on the surface of the Venus but it was crushed after entering the atmosphere of the planet. |
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| Reaching the planets is much more difficult than reaching the moon because the planets are so much further away. Mariner-2, which passed within 34,000 km of Venus sent back the first close-range news of Venus. |
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