Between 1960 and 1966, NASA launched a series of early weather satellites known as Television Infrared Observation Satellites (TIROS). These satellites greatly advanced meteorology worldwide, as satellite imagery was used for better forecasting, for both public and commercial interests. On April 6, 1965, the Hughes Aircraft Company placed the Intelsat I communications satellite geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean. Intelsat I was built for the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT), and demonstrated that satellite-based communication was commercially feasible. Intelsat I allowed for near-instantaneous contact between Europe and North America by handling television, telephone and fax transmissions. Two years later, the Soviet Union launched the Orbita satellite, which provided television signals across Russia, and started the first national satellite television network. Similarly, the 1972 Anik A satellite, launched by Telesat Canada, allowed the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to reach northern Canada for the first time. In 1980, Europe's Arianespace became the world's first commercial launch service provider. Beginning in 1997, Iridium Communications began launching a series of satellites known as the Iridium satellite constellation, which provided the first satellites for direct satellite telephone service. Spaceflight The commercial spaceflight industry derives the bulk of its revenue from the launching of satellites into the Earth's orbit. Commercial launch providers typically place private and government satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) and geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has licensed six commercial spaceports in the United States: Wallops Flight Facility, Kodiak Launch Complex, Spaceport Florida, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Launch sites within Russia, France, and China have added to the global commercial launch capacity. The Delta IV, Atlas V, and Falcon family of launch vehicles are made available for commercial ventures for the United States, while Russia promotes eight families of vehicles. Between 1996 and 2002, 245 launches were made for commercial ventures while government (non-classified) launches only total 167 for the same period. Commercial space flight has spurred investment into the development of an efficient reusable launch vehicle (RLV) which can place larger payloads into orbit. Several companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are currently developing new RLV designs. In the United States, Office of Commercial Space Transportation (generally referred to as FAA/AST or simply AST) is the branch of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that approves any commercial rocket launch operations—that is, any launches that are not classified as model, amateur,