Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 June 2015
Earlier versions of this article were presented at the Johns Hopkins University Colloquium in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology; the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association; and the New York University Abu Dhabi Workshop on Globalizing Histories of Science, Medicine, and Technology. I would like to thank participants at these events for their valuable comments. The research for this article was supported by a fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution Air and Space Museum (Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History) and a Research and Study Leave grant from the University of Otago, New Zealand. I am very grateful for this valuable support. Finally, I would like to especially thank Heidi J. S. Tworek and Simone Müller, for their insightful comments and for their work editing this special issue.
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3. UN General Assembly resolution 1721, International Co-operation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 20 December 1961, section D, available from http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/16/ares16.htm.
4. Ibid.
5. Frederick Kappel to E. C. Welsh, 20 June 1961, folder “Communications Satellite Corporation,” box 15, NASC General Correspondence, 1961–69, Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Council (NASC) within Record Group 220 [Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards], National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md. (NARA).
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12. “Discussion Notes by the Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Dryden),” 22 April 1961. Reprinted in U.S. State Department, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–63, John F. Kennedy, vol. 25, Organization of Foreign Policy, Information Policy, United Nations, Scientific Matters, U.S. Space Program, #362.
13. John F. Kennedy, “Urgent National Needs,” Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, 25 May 1961, NASA Historical Reference Collection, NASA History Office. Reprinted in Logsdon, ed., Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume 1: Organizing for Exploration, Document III-12, 454. On Johnson emphasizing the importance of communication satellites for promoting education in “underdeveloped” countries, see Minnow, Newton quoted in Dallek, Robert, “Johnson, Project Apollo, and the Politics of Space Program Planning,” in Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership, ed. Launius, Roger D. and McCurdy, Howard E. (Urbana, 1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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15. Johnson, Walter, “CSC Income Misses Goal, But No One Loses Heart,” Electronic News, 17 January 1966Google Scholar, copy in folder “Communications Satellites,” box 7, Directors COMSAT Records 1962–66, Records of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, Record Group 396, National Archives (hereafter Dir/COMSAT, NARA).
16. Degroot, Gerard J., Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest (New York, 2006), 135.Google Scholar On the space proposal in the inaugural address, see comments with the administration’s draft proposal in John M. Logsdon, “The Development of International Space Cooperation,” in Exploring the Unknown, Volume 2: External Relationships, 143–47.
17. Interview with William Gilbert Carter (COMSAT History Project), 15 July 1985, 11–12, COMSAT Collection, Johns Hopkins University Special Collections, Baltimore (hereafter COMSAT/JHU).
18. UN General Assembly resolution 1721, section D.
19. The conference also recommended that Britain and Australia should arrange talks with Europe before Commonwealth governments held further discussions. See “Commonwealth Conference on Satellite Communications, 1962,” vol. 1 (“Report to the Governments”), sections A1, B1, B2, 13 April 1962, FO 371/17104, National Archives of the UK (hereafter NA).
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21. Sebesta, Lorenza, “U.S.-European Relations and the Decision to Build Ariane, the European Launch Vehicle,” in Beyond the Ionosphere: Fifty Years of Satellite Communication, ed. Butrica, Andrew J. (NASA History Office: Washington, D.C., 1997), 138, 142–43.Google Scholar On the British Commonwealth system, see especially Nigel Wright, “The Formulation of British and European Policy Toward an International Satellite Telecommunications System,” in Beyond the Ionosphere, 157–69.
22. See D. J. Gibson, “Commonwealth Conference on Communications Satellites, February 1962: Preparation of U.K. Policy,” 15 December 1961, FO 371/165275, NA.
23. Wright, “The Formulation of British and European Policy,” 160–63.
24. J. Mark, “Satellite Communications,” 7 March 1962, T 319/157, NA. See also Wright, “The Formulation of British and European Policy,” 161–63. For background on coordination of Commonwealth communication during the 1950s, see Potter, Simon James, Broadcasting Empire: The BBC and the British World, 1922–1970 (Oxford, 2012), 175–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25. R. F. G. Sarell to “Mr. Melville,” 19 March 1962, FO 371/165275, NA.
26. Hope-Jones, Ronald C., “Commonwealth Conference on Satellite Communications,” 15 March 1962Google Scholar, FO 371/165275, NA. See also Wright, “The Formulation of British and European Policy,” 163–65.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Forty-seven companies and trade associations also established a European organization called EUROSPACE in 1961, with a goal of creating an industrial organization that would pool resources and provide expert advice on space programs. On European interest in space and fears of a technology gap with the United States, see Krige, John, Callahan, Angelina Long, and Maharj, Ashok, NASA in the World: Fifty Years of International Collaboration in Space (New York, 2013), 52–53.Google Scholar For Europe and beginnings of space program, see also Sebesta, “U.S.-European Relations and the Decision to Build Ariane, the European Launch Vehicle,” 137–39; Krige, John and Russo, Arturo, A History of the European Space Agency, 1958–1987. Vol. I. The Story of ESRO and ELDO—1958–1973 (Noordwijk, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Krige, John, “Building Space Capability Through European Regional Collaboration,” in Remembering the Space Age: Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference, ed. Dick, Steven J. (Washington, D.C., 2008), 37–52.Google Scholar
30. Krige and Russo, A History of the European Space Agency, 1958–1987, chaps. 1 and 3.
31. Ibid. Amaldi quotation (“mere spectators”) on 20, last quotations on 91.
32. Ibid., 28, 30.
33. On activities of State Department, see Senate Committee on Commerce, Communications Satellite Incorporators: Hearings Before the Committee on Commerce, 88th Cong., 1st sess., 11 March 1963, 24.
34. Interview with William Gilbert Carter (COMSAT History Project), 15 July 1985, 15–16, COMSAT/JHU.
35. “Meeting Held at 10:00 A.M. September 18, 1962, in the Department of State to Consider British and Canadian Requests for Preliminary Talks on Communication Satellite Arrangements,” 20 September 1962, 3–4, Meeker in the Department of State quoted on 4, folder “COMSAT—British/Canadian/U.S. Discussion,” box 8, Dir/COMSAT, NARA.
36. “Position Paper for the United States Delegation for the Meeting with Members of the European Conference on Satellite Communications and the Canadians, Rome–February 10, 1964,” 17, folder “TEL 6, Space Communications, 1/1/64,” box 1458, Central Foreign Policy File 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA. On developing countries increasingly playing an active role at the ITU during this period, see Hugh Richard Slotten, “The International Telecommunications Union, Space Radio Communications, and U.S. Cold War Diplomacy, 1957–1963,” Diplomatic History 37 (2013): 313–71. For a general history of UN governance during this period, including the broader debates, see Kennedy, Paul M., The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations (New York, 2006)Google Scholar and other sources included in the UN History Project: http://unhistoryproject.org/themes/governance-bibliography.html.
37. Arnold Frutkin quoted in “Summary Record of Preliminary Talks on Commercial Communications Satellites Held at the Department of State, October 29–31, 1962, among the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America,” 52–53, folder HOOO537, box 18, COMSAT/JHU.
38. “Meeting Held at 10:00 A.M. September 18, 1962, in the Department of State to Consider British and Canadian Requests for Preliminary Talks on Communication Satellite Arrangements,” 20 September 1962, 3–4; Meeker in the Department of State quoted on 4, folder “COMSAT—British/Canadian/U.S. Discussion,” box 8, Dir/COMSAT, NARA.
39. W. G. Carter, “Notes for a Position Paper,” 6 October 1962, 1–2, 1962 Satellite Act quoted on 1, folder “COMSAT—Miscellaneous,” box 7, Dir/COMSAT, NARA.
40. For first quotation, see Blumenthal comments in “Summary Record of Preliminary Talks on Commercial Communications Satellites Held at the Department of State, October 29–31, 1962 among the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America,” 8, 51; Gardner quoted on 46, folder HOOO537, box 18, COMSAT/JHU.
41. Hope-Jones’s comments reported in airgram from the U.S. embassy in London to the Department of State, 5 March 1963, folder “TEL-Telecommunications, UK, 2/1/63,” box 3660, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
42. This was the U.S. attitude during at least one ITU meeting deciding about the international use of frequencies in this period. See Slotten, “The International Telecommunications Union, Space Radio Communications, and U.S. Cold War Diplomacy, 313–71. On ITU radio frequency conferences, see also Schwoch, James, The American Radio Industry and Its Latin American Activities, 1900–1939 (Urbana, 1990), 56–95Google Scholar; Schwoch, Global TV: New Media and the Cold War, 1946–69 (Urbana, 2009), 18–25, 31–35.
43. Sebesta, “U.S.-European Relations and the Decision to Build Ariane, the European Launch Vehicle,” 138, 142–43. On the British Commonwealth system, see especially Wright, “The Formulation of British and European Policy Toward an International Satellite Telecommunications System,” 157–69.
44. For quotation, see M. W. Hodges to James F. Hosie, “Post Office Working Party on Satellite Communications,” 10 December 1962, CAB 124/2281, NA. On France not yet having a “definite policy,” see P. Dixon, Paris to Foreign Office, 13 November 1962, FO 371/165249, NA.
45. M. D. Butler to Ronald C. Hope-Jones, 3 December 1962, PO 371,165249, NA.
46. P. Dixon, Paris to Foreign Office, 13 November 1962, FO 371/165249, NA.
47. M. D. Butler to Ronald C. Hope-Jones, 3 December 1962, FO 371/165249, NA.
48. James F. Hosie to Quirk, “Satellite Communications,” 11 December 1962, CAB 124/2281, NA.
49. M. W. Hodges to James F. Hosie, “European Satellite Communications Organization?” 6 December 1962, CAB 124/2281, NA.
50. For view of Treasury official, see A. M. Bailey, “Civil Satellite Communications,” 11 December 1962, T 225/2449, NA.
51. Ronald C. Hope-Jones to G. A. Garey-Foster, 23 January 1963, FO 371/165249, NA.
52. Segers, Mathieu, “De Gaulle’s Race to the Bottom: The Netherlands, France, and the Interwoven Problems of British EEC Membership and European Political Union, 1958–1963,” Contemporary European History 19 (2010): 119–20.Google Scholar
53. “British Discussions with the Conference of European Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) Cologne, December 1962,” FO 371/17/046, NA.
54. For Hope-Jones quotation see Hope-Jones, Ronald C., “Satellite Communications,” 21 December 1962Google Scholar, FO 371/171046, NA. Also see Wright, “The Formulation of British and European Policy,” 165–69. On the composition of the ad hoc committee, see C. W. Loeber to C. E. Lovell, 6 February 1963, folder “TEL 6, Space Communications, 2/1/63,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
55. M. D. Butler to Ronald C. Hope-Jones, 14 March 1963, FO 371/171047, NA.
56. On Graham, see statement based on interview in Galloway, Jonathan F., The Politics and Technology of Satellite Communications (Lexington, Mass., 1972), 81.Google Scholar
57. London to Secretary of State, 16 May 1963, folder “Telecommunications: TEL 3. Organizations & Conferences, CEPT,” box 3652, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
58. For views of Secretary of State, see “Plans of the Communications Satellite Corporation to Establish Contacts with the Operating Communications Agencies of Canada and the Principal European Countries,” 17 May 1963, folder “TEL-Telecommunications, CAN-A,” box 3657, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
59. Paris embassy to Department of State, 2 June 1963, “Global Communication Satellites System. Meeting of Welch and Charyk with CNET Officials,” folder “TEL 6, 6/1/63,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
60. Ibid.
61. Interview with William Gilbert Carter (COMSAT History Project), 15 July 1985, 57, COMSAT/JHU.
62. Ibid, 22.
63. American Embassy in Paris to Department of State, 2 June 1963, “Global Communication Satellite System. Meeting of WELCH and CHARYK and CNET Officials, Paris, May 28, 1963,” folder “TEL 6, 6/1/63,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File, 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
64. “A Progress Report on Planning for a Global Commercial Communications Satellite System,” n. d. [May 1964], 2, 10–11, 14, folder “COMSAT International Agreements,” box 8, Dir/COMSAT, NARA.
65. Aide-Memoire, 26 June 1963, attached as Annex B with memo: Department of State to Circular, “Commercial Communications Satellite System,” 27 June 1963, folder “TEL 6, Space Communications, 2/1/63,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File, 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
66. On organization of Ad Hoc Group, see “Report of Director of Telecommunications Management,” 26 August 1963, 29 in House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Report No. 809, Communications Satellite Act of 1962–The First Year, 88th Cong., 1st sess., 3 October 1963.
67. Memo to the Ad Hoc Communications Satellite Group, “Redraft of Communications Satellite Corporation Principles for Establishment of Global Commercial Communications Satellite System,” 13 August 1963, folder “TEL 6, Space Communications, 2/1/63,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA. On Europeans favoring multilateral agreements and opposing bilateral arrangements, see Warren B. Cheston to Department of State, 20 August 1963, folder “SP-Space and Astronautics, 2/1/63, FALK IS,” box 4185, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
68. A. Rumbold to Patrick Reilly, 22 May 1963, FO 371/171056, NA.
69. Ronald C. Hope-Jones to J. A. Robinson, 17 September 1963, FO 371/171061, NA.
70. U.S. embassy in London to Department of State, 15 October 1963, folder “TEL-Telecommunications, F, 2/1/63,” box 3658, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
71. “Satellite Communication Conference Report by the United Kingdom Delegation,” 26 July 1963, CAB 130/191, NA.
72. Ronald C. Hope-Jones to J. A. Robinson, 17 September 1963, FO 371/171061, NA.
73. “Satellite Communication Conference Report by the United Kingdom Delegation,” 26 July 1963, CAB 130/191, NA.
74. Ronald C. Hope-Jones to J. A. Robinson, 17 September 1963, FO 371/171061, NA.
75. “S. Meijer to Chairman of the London Session of the European Conference on Telecommunication by Satellites, “Summary of letter of transmittal,” 21 October 1963; included with U.S. mission in Geneva to Department of State, “Communication Satellites: Summary of Luncheon meeting,” 1 November 1963, folder “TEL 6-1, Space Communication Frequencies, 10/1/63, ITU,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA. On proposal to have COMSAT manage system under guidance of administrative council, see U.S. embassy in London to Secretary of State, 15 October 1963, folder “TEL 6-1, Space Communication Frequencies, 10/1/63, ITU,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
76. D. P. Reilly, “European Satellite Communications Conference,” 14 November 1963, FO 371/171066, NA.
77. “Towards a European Organization for Telecommunications Through Satellites: Work of the Conference in Rome,” 30 November 1963; included as enclosure 3 with U.S. embassy in Rome to Department of State, 18 December 1963, folder “Telecommunications: TEL 3. Organizations & Conferences, 2/1/63,” box 3652, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
78. Views of Patrick Reilly related in U.S. embassy in London to Secretary of State, 15 October 1963, folder “TEL-Telecommunications, F, 2/1/63,” box 3658, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
79. U.S. embassy in Paris to Department of State, “Global Communication Satellite System: Second Meeting of the European Conference on Satellite Communications,” 9 August 1963, folder “SP-Space and Astronautics, 2/1/63, FALK IS,” box 4185, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
80. Harlan Cleveland to Abram Chayes, 7 February 1964, folder “TEL 6, Space Communications, 1/1/64,” box 1458, Central Foreign Policy File 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA.
81. Abram Chayes to Under Secretary of the Department of State, 4 February 1964, folder “TEL 6 Space Communications, 1/1/64,” box 1458, Central Foreign Policy File 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA.
82. “Position Paper for the United States Delegation for the Meeting with Members of the European Conference on Satellite Communications and the Canadians, Rome–February 10, 1964,” 4–5, 12–13, folder “TEL 6, Space Communications, 1/1/64,” box 1458, Central Foreign Policy File 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA.
83. Ibid, 17.
84. Ibid, 6, 9, 14, 17.
85. On how these countries contributed to the success of the negotiations with the Europeans, see interview with John A. Johnson (COMSAT History Project), 12 January 1983, 7–8, COMSAT/JHU. On Canada deciding to support U.S. efforts, see Cabinet Minutes, No. 42–63, 3 August 1963, p. 22, RG 2, A-5-a, box 6254, Archives and Library Canada, Ottawa.
86. Memorandum of Conversation, Department of State, “Meeting of December 16, 1963 with Chairman of the Board of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company to Discuss Commercial Communication Satellite Program,” 16 December 1963, folder “TEL-Telecommunications, 2/1/63 U.S.,” box 3660, Central Foreign Policy File, 1963, Gen/State, NARA; G. Griffith Johnson to George W. Ball, 4 December 1963, folder “TEL 6, 6/1/63,” box 3654, Central Foreign Policy File, 1963, Gen/State, NARA; Ronald C. Hope-Jones to M.D. Butler, 23 January 1964, FO 371/176286, NA.
87. Document titled “Introduction” attached to AID/Washington to embassies, “Space Communications,” 22 October 1964, folder “Tel 6, Space Communications, 10/1/64,” box 1457, Central Foreign Policy File, 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA.
88. Ibid.
89. Western European countries also benefited more than most other countries in the world from a weighted system of voting. The UK explicitly looked to the IMF as a model for the global satellite communications system. See Patrick Reilly comments, Meeting Minutes, Cabinet Ministerial Committee on Satellite Communications, 22 November 1963, 1, CAB 134/1566, NA.
90. “Position Paper for the United States Delegation for the Meeting with Members of the European Conference on Satellite Communication, Canada, Japan, and Australia, London—June 12–13 and 18–20, 1964,” n.d., 2–3, folder “Tel 6, Space Communications, 6/1/64, 1 of 2,” box 1458, Central Foreign Policy File, 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA; Interview with John A. Johnson (COMSAT History Project), 12 January 1983, 11, COMSAT/JHU.
91. Document titled “Introduction” attached to AID/Washington to embassies, “Space Communications,” 22 October 1964, folder “Tel 6, Space Communications, 10/1/64,” box 1457, Central Foreign Policy File, 1964–66, Gen/State, NARA. Nations choosing not to join could still lease communication channels from the system.
92. Washington, D.C., to UK Foreign Office, “Satellite Communications—Voting Procedure,” 23 July 1964, FO 371/176291, NA
93. Charles Johnston comments, Meeting Minutes, Cabinet Ministerial Committee on Satellite Communications, 22 June 1964, 4, CAB 134/1566.
94. Provisional Summary Record—Second Plenary Session, 22 July 1964, 2–3, Plenipotentiary Conference to Establish Interim Arrangements for a Global Commercial Communications Satellite System, folder “COMSAT International Agreement,” box 8, Dir/COMSAT, NARA. For British perspective on European position, see Ronald C. Hope-Jones to R. S. Faber, 8 July 1964, FO 371/176291, NA.
95. Annex V, “Agreement Establishing Interim Arrangements for a Global Commercial Communications Satellite System. Done at Washington August 20, 1964,” Treaties and Other International Acts Series, Communications Satellite System (COMSAT), Department of State (Washington, D.C.), located in folder 4, box 24, Joseph Charyk Papers, George Washington University Special Collections, Washington, D.C.
96. Lee R. Marks to O’Connell, James D., 29 July 1964, folder “Defense-COMSAT Corp. Negotiations,” box 8, Dir/COMSAT, NARAGoogle Scholar.
97. Patrick Reilly comments, Meeting Minutes, Cabinet Ministerial Committee on Satellite Communications, 22 November 1963, 1, CAB 134/1566, NA.
98. Lee R. Marks to James D. O’Connell, 29 July 1964, folder “Defense-COMSAT Corp. Negotiations,” box 8, Dir/COMSAT, NARA.
99. On the development of technological infrastructure in Europe, see Vleuten, Erik van der and Kaijser, Arne, eds., Networking Europe: Transnational Infrastructures and the Shaping of Europe, 1850–2000 (Sagamore Beach, Mass., 2006).Google Scholar
100. The U.S. relied on sympathetic Canadian embassy officials in London for information about internal British political developments. See “British Policy Re Commercial Communications Satellites and Canadian Attitude Thereto,” 29 March 1963, folder “Telecommunications: TEL 3. Organizations & Conferences, 2/1/63, ITU,” box 3660, Central Foreign Policy File 1963, Gen/State, NARA.
101. International agreements allocating radio frequencies for communication satellites continued to be decided at special meetings of the ITU, but the needs of the Intelsat global system heavily influenced the U.S.’s involvement and ITU’s decisions. See Slotten, “The International Telecommunications Union, Space Radio Communications, and U.S. Cold War Diplomacy.”
102. Slotten, Hugh Richard, “Satellite Communications, Globalization, and the Cold War,” Technology and Culture 43 (April 2002): 349.Google Scholar
103. Westad, The Global Cold War.