English: A replica of Telstar 1 the first communications satellite to relay television signals between the US and Europe. This replica is on display in the Science Museum, London. Telstar 1 was constructed by Bell Labs for the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration and launched 10 July 1962 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was only operational for 7 months before it failed prematurely due to radiation from Starfish Prime a US nuclear weapons test in space. The double ring of cavities around its equator are microwave antennas, the larger for receiving the microwave television uplink signal from a satellite communications station on one continent, the smaller for transmitting the downlink signal to satellite stations on the other continent. The wire helical antenna at the top is for receiving commands for controlling the satellite.