The beginning of the history of Telespazio S.p.A. coincides with the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the company and
NASA which took place in January 1962 and made it possible to participate and develop projects relating to the
Telstar 1 and
Relay satellites. With the granting of the exclusive license by the
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the construction of the first plants used for the experimentation of satellite telecommunications between Europe and the United States was started, in a favorable territory from an orographic and electromagnetic point of view. Following the positive outcome of the experimental phase, the first antenna was established in 1964 which became the symbol of modern industry at a time when the historic
sugar refinery in Avezzano was progressively dismantled, which represented the first industrial-type initiative launched in territory of
Marsica. In 1965 the Fucino space station was opened to satellite communications with the modification of the first small experimental antenna which was adapted for primary
telemetry and
remote control services. On 6 April 1965, the first commercial telecommunications satellite was launched with which the commercial telephone and television service between the
Andover station in the United States and the newly formed Fucino station, still equipped with a small parabolic antenna, began on 28 June, 1965 9.14 meters in diameter, which could only operate on weekends also due to the limitation of the first commercial satellite sent into orbit, the
Intelsat I. This operation was followed by numerous other collaborations in the field of satellite telecommunications and television services with international space agencies and started thanks to the national and international network of space centers and teleports. In March 1985
Pope John Paul II on a visit to Telespazio sent a message of peace from Fucino to all the workers of the world before continuing his Abruzzese visit to the city of Avezzano. Among the most important projects that came into operation in the Fucino space station are the command and control of a segment of the
COSMO-SkyMed satellite system, the Argo project, reserved for emergency communications with fixed and mobile stations available to the Department of the
Civil Protection to prevent serious accidents or natural disasters and to deal with emergencies and the
Galileo Positioning System, a structure for navigation, control, satellite positioning and management of about 40 earth stations. ==See also==