Editing Intelsat (section)

=== International Governmental Organization (1964–2001) ===
The International Governmental Organization (IGO) began on ({{Start date and age|df=yes|20 August 1964}}), with 7 participating countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20514/volume-514-I-7441-English.pdf|title=United Nations Treaty, 20 August 1964|publisher=United Nations}}</ref> The 1964 agreement was an interim arrangement on a path to a more permanent agreement. The permanent international organization was established in 1973, following inter-nation negotiations from 1969 to 1971. The most difficult issue to "resolve concerned the shift from management of the system by a national entity to management by the international organization itself".<ref name=Leive1981 />{{rp|46}}

On 6 April 1965, Intelsat's first satellite, the [[Intelsat I]] (nicknamed ''Early Bird''), was placed in [[geostationary orbit]] above the [[Atlantic Ocean]] by a [[Delta (rocket family)|Delta D rocket]].

In 1973, the name was changed and there were 81 signatories.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201220/volume-1220-I-19677-English.pdf|title=United Nations Treaty, 20 August 1971|publisher=United Nations}}</ref><!-- not finding this in Leive1981 --> Intelsat was "governed initially by two international agreements: The Agreement setting forth the basic provisions and principles and structure of the organization, signed by the governments through their [[Ministry of foreign affairs|foreign ministries]], and an Operating Agreement setting forth more detailed financial and technical provisions and signed by the governments or their designated telecommunications entities", — in most cases, the latter are the ministries of communications of the party countries, but in the case of the United States, was the [[COMSAT|Communications Satellite Corporation]] (COMSAT),<ref name=Menter1981>{{cite journal|last=Menter|first=Martin|title=Commercial Participation in Space Activities|url=http://www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/jsl/back-issues/jsl-9.html|url-status=dead|journal=Journal of Space Law|year=1981|volume=9|issue=45|pages=53–68|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601005629/http://www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/jsl/back-issues/jsl-9.html|archive-date=2012-06-01|access-date=5 September 2018}}</ref> a private corporation established by [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] legislation to represent the U.S. in international governance for the global communication satellite system.<ref name=Leive1981/>{{rp|47}} Intelsat<!-- all caps in the early years --> at that time directly owned and managed a global communications satellite system, and structurally consisted of three parts:<ref name=Leive1981>{{cite journal|last=Leive|first=David M.|title=Essential Features of INTEL SAT: Applications for the Future |url=http://www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/jsl/back-issues/jsl-9.html|url-status=dead|journal=Journal of Space Law|year=1981|volume=9|issue=45|pages=45–52|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601005629/http://www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/jsl/back-issues/jsl-9.html|archive-date=2012-06-01|access-date=5 September 2018}}</ref>

* the Assembly of Parties – meeting every two years and concerned with aspects "primarily of interest to the Parties as sovereign States"<ref name=Leive1981/>{{rp|48}}—with each country having one vote.
* the Meeting of Signatories – meeting annually and composed of all the signatories to the Operating Agreement—primarily working on financial, technical and program matters, with each countries' signatory having one vote.
* a Board of Governors, meeting at least four times each year, making decisions on design, development, establishment, operation and maintenance of the in-space assets, appointed by signatories, but weighted to each signatory's "investment share" in the space assets.

The 1973 Agreement called for a seven-year transition from national to international management, but continued until 1976 to carve out "technical and operational management of the system [to the U.S. signatory] the Communications Satellite Corporation [which had also] served as the Manager of the global system under the interim arrangements in force from 1964 to 1973".<ref name=Leive1981 />{{rp|49}} Later phases of the transition resulted in full international governance by 1980. Financial contribution to the organization, its so-called "investment share", was strictly proportional to each member's use of the system, determined annually; and this corresponded to the weighted vote each would have on the Board of Governors.<ref name=Leive1981 />{{rp|50}}

{{As of|2018|post=,}} Intelsat provides service to over 600 Earth stations in more than 149 countries, territories and dependencies. By 2001, Intelsat had over 100 members.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObiEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|title=The Political Economy of the Space Age: How Science and Technology Shape the Evolution of Human Society|last=Sommariva|first=Andrea|date=2018-02-28|publisher=Vernon Press|isbn=978-1-62273-264-7|page=29}}</ref> It was also this year that Intelsat privatized and changed its name to Intelsat.{{clarify|date=September 2018}}

Since its inception, Intelsat has used several versions (blocks) of its dedicated Intelsat satellites. Intelsat completes each block of spacecraft independently, leading to a variety of satellite manufacturing contractors over the years. Intelsat's largest spacecraft supplier by 2012 was [[SSL (company)|Space Systems/Loral]], having built 47 spacecraft ([[Intelsat 20]]) by that time.<ref name="Display">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2012-043A|title=Intelsat 20 2012-043A|publisher=NASA|date=10 February 2021|access-date=29 March 2021}} }}</ref>

The network in its early years was not as robust as it is now. A failure of the Atlantic satellite in the spring of 1969 threatened to stop the ''[[Apollo 11]]'' mission; a replacement satellite went into a bad orbit and could not be recovered in time; [[NASA]] used undersea cable telephone circuits as an alternative to route Apollo's communications to NASA during the mission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldradio.com/archives/warstories/dk.htm|title=Camelot on the Moon|author=Donald E. Kimberlin|date=1 June 1994|access-date=22 September 2006}}</ref> During the Apollo 11 [[Extravehicular activity|moonwalk]], the [[Moon]] was over the [[Pacific Ocean]], and so other antennas were used, as well as Intelsat III, which was in geostationary orbit over the Pacific.<ref name=Parkes>{{cite web|url=http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/apollo11/pasa/on_eagles_wings.pdf|title=On Eagle's Wings: The Parkes Observatory's Support of the Apollo 11 Mission|publisher=Astronomical Society of Australia|date=1 July 2001|access-date=22 September 2006|archive-date=10 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810003829/http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/apollo11/pasa/on_eagles_wings.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>