The first serious proposal for space-based human communications was in Arthur C. Clarke's famous article titled "Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", which appeared in the October 1945 issue of the British magazine Wireless World. In this article, Clarke made the case for manned space stations in geosynchronous orbit. In addition to conducting research, these stations were to be used to relay radio signals back and forth from Earth's surface. Clarke's article is generally recognized as the origin of today's communications satellites.

Early Communications Systems

During the first piloted spaceflight in April 1961, Yuri Gagarin was able to maintain voice communications with Moscow Ground Control throughout his 108-minute trip. As well as being the first human in orbit, he was the first to communicate from space to Earth. On this spaceflight, telemetry, defined as a constant stream of data, was sent back to...