Morelos 1, the first Mexican satellite

Satellites

are the main actors of telecommunications in the world that allow the transmission and distribution of information . It is thanks to them that we can receive TV , radio , and telephone signals. Moreover, they can be used to monitor the Earth , as well as for sailing and location , which is what we currently know as GPS . They are also used as scientific instruments that allow work on meteorological matters and others are used for education purposes .

Although according to the NASA Historical Data Book Mexico started domestic use of satellite communication in 1980 , it was until 1985 that Mexico’s Morelos 1 Satellite , named after José María Morelos y Pavón , one of the leading figures in Mexico’s Independence from Spain, was launched into space, hence introducing our country into the space scene of communication satellites.

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Morelos 1

, the first Mexican telecommunications satellite, was carried into orbit on June 17, 1985 , by NASA’s Discovery space shuttle from Cape Canaveral , Florida in the U.S. and it was a watershed in Mexican history .

Five months later, on November 26 , the Morelos 2 satellite was launched from the Atlantis space shuttle , a mission that also sent into space the first Mexican astronaut , Rodolfo Neri Vela . Both satellites were designed for telephone and direct broadcasting services and they involved space experiments designed by Mexican scientists.

The Morelos satellite system provided advanced telecommunications to rural areas in Mexico including educational television, commercial programs, telephone, and facsimile services, as well as data and business transmissions.

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With this program, engineers and technicians from Mexico’s Communications and Transports Ministry (SCT) received intense training both in land and space devices, so the system and the next generations of national satellites have been completely controlled by Mexicans from national territory.

A presidential decree ordered the creation, in 1987 , of Mexico’s Telecommunications (Telecomm) , a Mexico City-based organism created to provide public telegraph and radiotelegraphy service , as well as satellite communication .

Morelos 1 and 2 were the door to carry on with the government satellite program called Solidaridad (Solidarity), so as to provide information and communication technology to offer social and telecommunications services in the country.

During the 90s , the second generation of Mexican satellites was implemented, allowing to launch Solidaridad 1 (1993) and Solidaridad 2 (1994).

Then, on June 26, 1997 , the company Satélites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (SATMEX) was created and a year later, on December 5, 1998 , it launched Mexico’s first third-generation satellite, Satmex 5 , which would replace Morelos 2. This generation included the Satmex 6 , Satmex 7 , and Satmex 8 satellites.

From 2013 to 2018, Mexico launched the Mexsat 3 (Bicentenario) and Mexsat 2 (Morelos 3) satellites.

As the SCT states, these pioneering efforts have allowed Mexico to currently have the third generation of government satellites with the MexSat program , one of the most advanced in the world. Today, Morelos 3 is proudly operated by Mexican engineers.

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