Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

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THE HISTORY OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
cies are dissatisfied with the report of the FCC Ad Hoc Industry Committee; and substantial
Congressional and press concern continues over AT&T’s potential stranglehold over
communication satellites. The Task Force will have recommendations ready in December.
Senator Kerr is preparing his own legislative recommendations, so the entire matter will
undoubtedly come to a head during the coming Congressional session.
Document I-16
Frederick G. Dutton
Document title: Senator Robert S. Kerr, “Amendment to the National Aeronautics and
Space Act of 1958, Space Communications,” November 28, 1961.
Source: NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Office, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, D.C.
Document I-17
Document title: E.C. Welsh, Executive Secretary, National Aeronautics and Space Council,
Executive Office of the President, Memorandum to the President, April 11, 1962.
Source: NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Office, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, D.C.
Document I-18
Document title: “Communications Satellite Act of 1962,” Public Law 87-624, 76 Stat. 419,
signed by the President on August 31, 1962.
Source: NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Office, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, D.C.
By the spring of 1962, the Kennedy administration had decided its preference regarding what kind of
communications satellite organization should be developed. There were some in Congress, however,
who wanted public ownership of any such organization, while others argued for totally private control.
While the congressional debate was going on, Telstar was launched and successfully operated by
AT&T. This further strengthened the case for private-sector operation of international satellite communications.
In addition to the administration bill mentioned in the memorandum to President
Kennedy from Edward C. Welsh, Executive Secretary for the National Aeronautics and Space Council,
there were fifteen other legislative proposals concerning the same subject. These advocated alternatives
included government ownership, limited private ownership similar to the administration bill, and
open ownership not limited to the international carriers.
John Johnson, NASA’s general counsel, was first asked to draft Senator Robert Kerr’s bill for a communications
satellite corporation and then asked to draft the Kennedy administration’s bill for the
same proposal. Kerr’s bill provided for an entirely privately run corporation, regulated by the government.
It represented the more conservative side of the argument over ownership and control. Kerr
chaired the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences and served primarily as an advocate
for the administration’s bill rather than his own. Estes Kefauver represented the other side of the
debate and introduced a bill calling for total government ownership. He led the opposition to the
administration bill on the Senate floor, first through the addition of a number of amendments and
then by a filibuster. The Senate finally moved for cloture for the first time since 1927 to end the debate.