The National Aeronautics and Space Administration invited radio companies to conduct experiments with Echo 1, its first communications satellite. When Echo successfully launched on August 12, 1960, Alpha Corporation, a subsidiary of Collins Radio Company, was ready. At 3:04 A.M. on August 13, a message was transmitted using Echo from Richardson, Texas, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a reply soon followed, marking the first successful two-way radio voice transmission via satellite. At 12:48 A.M. on August 19, the first photograph sent via satellite was received in Richardson from Cedar Rapids. By being the first to transmit voice, photographs, and later teletype, Collins helped lay the foundation for later technological breakthroughs.