Communications satellite of a GEO satellite. Like LEOs, these satellites don’t maintain a stationary distance from the earth. This is in contrast to the geostationary orbit, where satellites are always approximately from the earth. Typically the orbit of a medium earth orbit satellite is about above earth. In various patterns, these satellites make the trip around earth in anywhere from 2 to 8 hours. In 1962, the first communications satellite, Telstar, was launched. It was a medium earth orbit satellite designed to help facilitate high-speed telephone signals. Although it was the first practical way to transmit signals over the horizon, its major
APT Satellite Holdings 9 satellites giving it satellite coverage across Asia but also into Europe, Africa and the wider APAC region including Australia. It also leased some of the bandwidth of ChinaSat 12 (Apstar 7B). The largest shareholder of APT Satellite Holdings was APT Satellite International for 51.77% shares; APT Satellite International was 42.86% owned by Chinese state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) indirectly, via a non wholly owned subsidiary China Satellite Communications; China Satellite Communications owned an additional 1.45% shares of APT Satellite Holdings via another subsidiary: "China Satellite Communications (Hong Kong)". Moreover, CASC owned an additional 14.29% stake of