SCORE

…1958, in a program called Project SCORE, the U.S. Air Force launched the first low-orbiting communications satellite, premiering the transmission of the human voice from space. Others followed, initiating a rapidly growing national and international telecommunications satellite industry (see satellite communication).

government’s Project SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on December 19, 1958. It broadcast a taped message conveying “peace on earth and goodwill toward men everywhere” from U.S. Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower.