On July 10th, 1962, NASA launched the first communication satellite, "Telstar I" into Earth's orbit. AT&T became a huge investor in the development of Telstar, and it was reported they had spent approximately $50 million on its development. It was also reported that AT&T had spent over $1.4 billion on research and development for the essential components of the communication system. Launched into orbit on a Delta rocket out of Cape Canaveral, Telstar I remained active for only 7 months before it failed prematurely due to a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the U.S. called Starfish Prime. In December 1962, an instrumental song by The Tornados, entitled "Telsar" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was named after the recently launched communications satellite.
