The Shuttle Launches an Inflatable Antenna - May 25th, 1996.
"High above the Earth, the Space Shuttle Endeavor launched a new type of instrument - an inflatable antenna. The officially designated Inflatable Antenna Experiment was released Monday, May 20th, 1996, as part of a Spartan satellite - which contained many scientific experiments. The antenna was roughly the size of a tennis court and was even visible from Earth. At the end of the mission, the antenna would be jettisoned while the rest of the Spartan was recovered by the Shuttle. The function of an antenna is to broadcast radio messages, and the large dish at the end helps focus radio waves into a narrow beam, which can be detected over long distances."