See how long you can keep the satellites transmitting their signal... and then try and beat your own record!

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To make contact the earth stations had to 'track' or follow the movement of the satellites. This required motorised antennas that could swing round to track a satellite from the moment it appeared above the horizon to the moment contact was lost as it sank below the horizon.

Try it for yourself.

Most communications satellites of today are 'geostationary' - they appear to 'hover' at a constant position in the sky, meaning a fixed dish antenna will always have them directly in sight. The first satellites were much closer to the earth, and orbited the earth every couple of hours. This made radio communication easier but meant the satellites were visible over the horizon for a short while only, say 20 minutes each time. In this way, American news coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy was broadcast by in the UK by the BBC from live satellite relay in 1963. Other landmark linkups included the Tokyo Olympic games in 1964.