The building of the Telstar antennas and radomes

July 11, 2002, marks the 40th anniversary of the first transatlantic transmission of a live TV signal via an active satellite (Telstar 1), between the United States and France (followed shortly by England). This event has been recognized by the IEEE as an electrical engineering milestone. The radome and antenna in Pleumeur-Bodou, France, which now form the basis for a telecommunications museum, have been designated as a national historical site by the French government. The author shares some impressions of this historical engineering milestone.