From Echo 1 to entertainment plus

This paper traces the history of the space communications industry from the early days of the NASA sponsored SCORE talking Atlas missile, through the Echo balloon passive reflector, to the dawn of active satellites, first at low orbit and then at geosynchronous. It further traces the economics which led to the broad based operational systems of today, like RCA Satcom, and postulates some of the future economics which are leading to the development of Direct Broadcast Satellite Systems for the 1980's and into the 1990's.