A Delta rocket lofts Syncom 3 toward a fixed point over the Pacific

One American satellite, Syncom 1, had failed to reach orbit, while Syncom 2 had already relayed low-quality, silent test television transmissions but lacked a dedicated wideband channel. On August 19, 1964, a Delta D rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying Syncom 3, built by Hughes Aircraft Company's Space and Communications division. Engineers steered it into a fixed position over the Pacific near the International Date Line and switched on its new wideband channel. Less than two months later, that channel carried the Tokyo Olympics live across the Pacific, a feat often remembered as the first transpacific television broadcast even though Relay 1 had actually done so the previous year…