Who launched the first satellite?
1019722#2
ISRO built India's first satellite, Aryabhata, which was launched by the Soviet Union on 19April 1975. It was named after the mathematician Aryabhata. In 1980, Rohini became the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle, SLV-3. ISRO subsequently developed two other rockets: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching satellites into polar orbits and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for placing satellites into geostationary orbits. These rockets have launched numerous communications satellites and earth observation satellites. Satellite navigation systems like GAGAN and IRNSS have been deployed. In January 2014, ISRO used an indigenous cryogenic engine in a GSLV-D5 launch of the GSAT-14.
Indian Space Research Organisation
46597#0
Earth observation satellites or Earth remote sensing satellites are satellites specifically designed for Earth observation from orbit, similar to spy satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. 
The first occurrence of satellite remote sensing can be dated to the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Sputnik 1 sent back radio signals, which scientists used to study the ionosphere.
NASA launched the first American satellite, Explorer 1, in January 31, 1958. The information sent back from its radiation detector led to the discovery of the Earth's Van Allen radiation belts.
The TIROS-1 spacecraft, launched on April 1, 1960 as part of NASA's TIROS (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) Program, sent back the first television footage of weather patterns to be taken from space.
, more than 150 Earth observation satellites were in orbit, recording data with both passive and active sensors and acquiring more than 10 terabits of data daily.
Earth observation satellite
27683#36
While Canada was the third country to build a satellite which was launched into space, it was launched aboard an American rocket from an American spaceport. The same goes for Australia, who launched first satellite involved a donated U.S. Redstone rocket and American support staff as well as a joint launch facility with the United Kingdom. The first Italian satellite San Marco 1 launched on 15 December 1964 on a U.S. Scout rocket from Wallops Island (Virginia, United States) with an Italian launch team trained by NASA. By similar occasions, almost all further first national satellites was launched by foreign rockets.
Satellite
25511821#11
In 1984, Salim Mehmud quickly launched the Badr satellite program. The development and the construction of Badr-1, Pakistan's first domestically-built digital communication satellite, was started. A small team of SUPARCO scientists and engineers who had studied and trained in University of Surrey were the part of the university's UO-9, UO-11 and UO-22 hamsats miniature satellite development and program, began the development of the satellite. Mehmud, then briefed the General Zia and suggested to launch the satellite from Pakistani Satellite Launch Vehicle. However, having found difficulties in SLV-required technology, the idea of Pakistani SLV was postponed and later was cancelled. Mehmud retired from SUPARCO in 1989 as a chief scientist and was transferred in DESTO. In 1990, Badr-1 was finally launched via Long March 2E rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
Salim Mehmud
4318261#4
The SUPARCO negotiated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the launch of the satellite and approval required from the United States Government for the launch of the "Badr-1". The Air Force Strategic Command decided to fly the satellite by using one of its C-130 aircraft in 1986 to Florida, United States. The "Delta 3000" was selected by NASA's administration as its launch vehicle. Preparation was made and its crew and satellite was stored at the aircraft, however, it was delayed due to unknown reasons. The "Badr-1" was never shipped to United States and its launch was delayed for until next four years. As aftermath of the Challenger disaster in 1986, the United States Government and NASA had halt all the flights of the rockets carrying spacecraft and satellite payloads until the investigations were thoroughly completed. The satellite was stored at the Instrumentation Laboratories (IL) and SUPARCO began to negotiate with other space powers. In 1990, representatives of Chinese government offered Government of Pakistan to launch the satellite on one of its Long March Rockets and its facility. SUPARCO did not want to wait any longer, therefore, the Air Force Strategic Command flew the satellite, in sub-assembly form, to People's Republic of China. The satellite was re-assembled by Air Force Strategic Command and Suparco's official who visited the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The satellite was load at the Launch Area 2 and final preparations were made. The Chinese Government used Long March 2E, a three-stage orbital carrier rocket designed to commercial communications satellites, to launch the "Badr-1" who also took its first maiden flight with the launch of "Badr-1" on 16 July 1990.
Badr-1
1268205#1
The first satellite (USA-53 or 1990-019B, 19,600 kg) launched for the program was deployed on March 1, 1990 by the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" as part of Mission STS-36. Objects associated with the satellite decayed on March 31, 1990, but the satellite was seen and tracked later that year and in the mid-1990s by amateur observers. The second satellite (USA-144 or 1999-028A) was launched on May 22, 1999, and by 2004 the launch of a third satellite was planned for 2009. Circumstantial evidence suggested that the third satellite might be the payload of the Delta IV Heavy launch designated NROL-15, which was launched in June 2012. That launch deposited a payload into geosynchronous orbit but, given the stealth/deception hypothesis, there remains the possibility of other, undetected payloads.
Misty (satellite)
7527410#48
The necessity for better satellite television programming than TVRO arose in the 1980s. Satellite television services, first in Europe, began transmitting K band signals in the late 1980s. On 11 December 1988 Luxembourg launched Astra 1A, the first satellite to provide medium power satellite coverage to Western Europe. This was one of the first medium-powered satellites, transmitting signals in K band and allowing reception with small(90 cm) dishes for the first time ever. The launch of Astra beat the winner of the UK's state Direct Broadcast Satellite licence, British Satellite Broadcasting, to the market, and accelerated its demise.
Satellite television
8778629#5
Already delayed significantly beyond the first satellite's planned 2014 launch, on April 27, 2016, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), in Hawthorne, California, was awarded an firm-fixed-price contract for launch services to deliver a GPS III satellite to its intended orbit. The contract included launch vehicle production, mission integration, and launch operations for a GPS III mission, to be performed in Hawthorne, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and McGregor, Texas. In December 2016, the Director of the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning Systems Directorate announced the first satellite would launch in the spring of 2018. In March 2017, the US General Accounting Office stated "Technical issues with both the GPS III satellite and the OCX Block 0 launch control and checkout system have combined to place the planned March 2018 launch date for the first GPS III satellite at risk." The delays were caused by a number of factors, primarily due to issues found in the navigation payload. Further launch date slippages were caused by the need for additional testing and validation of a SpaceX Falcon 9 which ultimately launched the satellite on December 23, 2018.
GPS Block IIIA
11312635#5
United Launch Alliance is providing launch services for the first three satellites. Satellite processing for the first two satellites was handled by the Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary of SPACEHAB. The first satellite was launched at 22:34 GMT, on 8 June 2007, aboard a Delta II 7420-10 rocket from Vandenberg AFB. An identical rocket launched COSMO-2 at 02:31:42 GMT on 9 December 2007, the launch having been delayed from 6 December due to bad weather, and problems with the rocket's cork insulation. COSMO-3 launched at 02:38 GMT on 25 October 2008, also aboard a Delta II 7420-10. A Delta II flying in the 7420-10 configuration will also be used to launch COSMO-4. Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on November 5, 2010 at 1920L.
COSMO-SkyMed
17364156#7
Unfortunately for the timely success of the satellite project, many of the most experienced people at Martin were shifted to the high-priority Titan ICBM program, and the mature Viking team was largely lost to Project Vanguard. The resulting shock to US pride and perceptions of national security, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial earth satellite, on October 4, 1957 (on the much larger R-7 rocket, developed as an ICBM), combined with the spectacular launch failure of the first complete Vanguard test launch December 6, 1957, is well known and recounted elsewhere. Thus the first US satellite, Explorer 1, was launched January 31, 1958 by a substantially larger Army Jupiter-C rocket, based on the Redstone missile, which had been developed by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Huntsville, Alabama under the leadership of Wernher von Braun. The first successful Vanguard satellite launching came on March 17, 1958. Its payload, Vanguard 1, is the oldest satellite currently in orbit, in addition to its upper launch stage.
Milton Rosen