Telstar television satellite test picture, 1962. First television satellite pictures from the UK to the USA, transmitted by the newly launched Telstar 1 satellite. Telstar 1 (launched 10 July 1962) was built and operated by the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) company. It provided direct television transmission and telephone communication between America, Europe, and Japan. With an orbital period of two-and-a-half hours, Telstar 1 could only relay signals between two ground stations for about 30 to 40 minutes during each orbit, when both stations were in its line of sight. Photographed in Washing DC, USA, on 11 July 1962 by US photographer Thomas J. O'Halloran.