The history of satellite development is at an inflection point: around half of all countries have made and launched satellites, while another half has not. In this context, the time appears right to take stock of lessons learnt from the development of country-first domestic satellites. These are defined as the first to have been designed, assembled, integrated, and/or tested with significant input from local engineers. This paper reviews, for the first time, the genealogy of the 90 country-first domestic satellites launched into orbit to date. The comprehensive, trans-disciplinary analysis is based on an extensive literature review in multiple languages. Firstly, a family tree of country-first domestic satellites is constructed, mapping out important stakeholders and lineages. Four major generations are identified. Although country-first domestic satellites are often associated with domestic identity, they are without exception the product of international collaboration and technological exchanges. In parallel, a growing global market for satellite development and launch services has played an increasingly important role in their development even in the absence of official country-to-country collaborations. Secondly, the birth traits, life, death, and legacy of such satellites is reviewed in detail. Sustainability of the Earth’s orbital environment has typically not been prioritised by mission teams. Most countries having developed a first domestic satellite have also developed a second, but there have been more one-off firsts since the 1990s: microsatellites and CubeSats can be used to test the waters of space engineering without having to make a big commitment. Looking to the future, access to a domestic satellite is becoming easier and easier. The challenge is instead shifting towards ensuring that such an initiative is actually aligned with domestic industry, technologies, and STEM education, as well as sustainability of the Earth’s orbital environment. Long-term planning and vision are important in this regard. It is hoped that this review paper will provide a useful reference point for space historians, policymakers, and the pioneers of diverse new satellite missions.

中文翻译：

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国家首颗国产卫星：家谱


卫星发展的历史正处于一个拐点：大约一半的国家已经制造并发射了卫星，而另一半国家还没有。在这种背景下，现在似乎是时候总结从国家首颗国产卫星的开发中吸取的经验教训了。这些被定义为第一个在当地工程师的大量投入下进行设计、组装、集成和/或测试的产品。本文首次回顾了迄今为止90颗国内首颗入轨卫星的谱系。全面的跨学科分析基于多种语言的广泛文献综述。首先，构建了国家首颗国产卫星的家谱，绘制了重要的利益相关者和谱系。确定了四个主要世代。尽管国家首创的国产卫星往往与国内身份联系在一起，但它们无一例外是国际合作和技术交流的产物。与此同时，即使在没有官方的国家间合作的情况下，不断增长的全球卫星开发和发射服务市场也在其发展中发挥着越来越重要的作用。其次，详细回顾了此类卫星的出生特征、生命、死亡和遗产。任务团队通常不会优先考虑地球轨道环境的可持续性。大多数研制出第一颗国产卫星的国家也研制出了第二颗卫星，但自 20 世纪 90 年代以来出现了更多一次性的第一：微型卫星和立方体卫星可以用来测试空间工程，而无需做出重大承诺。展望未来，国产卫星的接入将变得越来越容易。 相反，挑战正在转向确保此类举措实际上与国内工业、技术和 STEM 教育以及地球轨道环境的可持续性保持一致。在这方面，长期规划和愿景很重要。希望这篇综述论文能为空间历史学家、政策制定者和各种新卫星任务的先驱者提供有用的参考点。