Project SCORE (Signal Communications Orbit Relay Equipment) was the world's first communications satellite. Launched in an Atlas rocket on December 18 1958, SCORE provided a first test of a communications relay system in space and captured world attention by broadcasting a Christmas message from President Eisenhower through an onboard tape recorder.
SCORE was developed by the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory (SRDL) at Fort Monmouth , New Jersey in a six month effort. The payload used store and forward technology, weighed 68 kg (150 pounds) and was built into the Atlas rocket. SCORE was placed into a 183 km by 1 481 km (114 mile by 920 mile) orbit, inclined 32.3 degrees, with a period of 101.5 minutes. Its batteries lasted 12 days and it reentered on 21 January 1959.
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