Communications Satellite, Echo 1
name: label: Manufacturer
content: G. T. Schjeldahl Co.
notes: label: Summary
content: Launched in 1960, Echo 1 was designed to explore the new field of communications via space. Its design was remarkably simple: Essentially a large balloon, measuring 30 meters (100 feet) across, the satellite provided a reflective surface in space. Radio signals directed at Echo from one location on Earth "bounced" to another. By the time Echo 2 was launched in 1964, other types of communications satellites had proven superior, and researchers used the Echos primarily for scientific experiments.
label: Summary
content: Echo satellites, manufactured by the G.T. Schjeldahl Co., posed a unique technical challenge. They were sent into orbit folded flat and then inflated in space. Inflation had to proceed carefully to ensure the integrity of the satellite's "balloon" surface. This one is a flight spare folded in its launch canister.
label: Summary
content: The National Museum of American History transferred this artifact to the Museum in 2003.
label: Alternate Name
content: Echo 1 Communications Satellite
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
label: Hangar
content: James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A20030090000
objectType: label: Type
content: SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Aluminum, mylar
label: Dimensions
content: Overall: 91.44cm diameter (3ft)