Page 54 - Communication Commerce and Power The Political Economy of America and the Direct Broadcast Satellite

42 Communication, Commerce and Power

Indian government beginning in 1974. Despite its successful applica-
tion overseas and warnings from some senior policy officials that DBS
developments should be encouraged in light of the emerging plans of
foreign countries to develop their own capabilities, powerful elements
of the US private sector and key American state agencies blocked the
domestic use of DBS until the early 1980s. 3

3.1 FORMATIVE TELESATELLITE DEVELOPMENTS

In 1955, President Eisenhower endorsed a National Academy of
Sci~nces (NAS) proposal, in conjunction with the Department of
Defense, to design and launch an experimental vehicle capable
of collecting geophysical data from above the earth's atmosphere by
the end of 1958. It was not until the launch ofthe Sputnik satellite by
the Soviet Union in October 1957, however, that American efforts to
develop satellites were directed substantially beyond post-1945 work
involving long-range weapons systems. As a result of the positive
4
publicity Sputnik generated for Soviet science and engineering, and
the fact that this experimental satellite was technologically superior to
the NAS/DoD proposal, the international leadership held by US
science and thus also its dominant international military position
were publicly questioned. One significant American response was
5
the formation of NASA in July 1958. Congress limited NASA
6
activities to military-related research and development and to funding
private sector projects. Underlying this mandate was the assumption
7
that although the public sector should play a leading role in experi-
mental research, it should not be directly involved in commercial
satellite applications. In other words, government's role in the United
States was to 'lead the way' in order to establish the foundations for
subsequent private sector activities. 8
The first 'true' telecommunication satellite launched by the United
States (that is, a satellite that receives a signal from earth and then
transmits it back) was called Echo I. It was placed into orbit by
NASA in August 1960. But despite this achievement, private sector
interests leveled frequent complaints against NASA. Telecommunica-
tion and aerospace companies demanded that government research
programs be more directly focused on private sector applications. 9
Moreover, in April 1961, the successful launch of the world's first
manned spacecraft by the Soviet Union stimulated a significant
growth in US government allocations to American corporations for