A balloon satellite, sometimes referred to as a " satelloon ", is a satellite inflated with gas after it has been put into orbit. The first flying body of this type was Echo 1, which was launched into a 1,600-kilometer (990 mi) high orbit on August 12, 1960, by the United States.

Project Echo was the first passive communications satellite experiment. Each of the two American spacecraft, launched in 1960 and 1964, were metalized balloon satellites acting as passive reflectors of microwave signals.

Feb 16, 2011 · People called them -- seriously -- "satelloons." The Echo satellite was made of aluminum-coated mylar and could be used a mirror to reflect communications signals around the globe.

Apr 24, 2017 · Photo of the 15 meter Holmdel horn antenna at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey. The site helped the pioneering work in communication satellites for the NASA Echo project’s “satelloons.” 50 feet in length, and weighing 18 tons, the structure was comprised of aluminum with a steel base

Aug 13, 2018 · Decades before satellite TV or GPS, NASA used a huge silver balloon to prove global communications via satellite possible. This was Echo, the U.S.’s first communication satellite, which paved the way for many current communication technologies. Technologically, Echo was quite simple.

Oct 7, 2007 · From about 1956 until 1964, US aeronautics engineers and rocket scientists at the Langley Research Center developed a series of spherical satellite balloons called, awesomely enough, satelloons. Dubbed Project Echo, the 100-foot diameter aluminumized balloons were one of the inaugural projects for NASA, which was established in 1958.

Aug 12, 2010 · Fifty years ago this month, NASA jump-started the telecommunication revolution with a balloon. Echo 1, conceived by Langley Research Center’s William O’Sullivan, was launched on August 12, 1960. Nicknamed the “satelloon,” the 100-foot wide Echo 1 was the world’s first communication satellite.

Oct 27, 2016 · Echo, NASA's first communications satellite, was a passive spacecraft based on a balloon design by an engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Nov 12, 2010 · Soaring roughly 1,000 miles abovethe Earth (1,600 km), the giant "satelloon" served as a mirrorscientists bounced radio signals off, relaying the first voice communicationvia satellite, the first...

Jul 11, 2020 · Before long, the small experimental program had ballooned into a full fledged satellite program called Project Echo. The size of the balloon satellite, informally called “satelloon”, also increased exponentially into a hundred foot.