The arts organization Creative Time launched an archival disc created by artist Trevor Paglen called The Last Pictures into orbit on EchoStar XVI. Made of ultra-archival materials, the disc is expected to orbit the planet Earth for millions of years and possibly up to several billion years affixed to the exterior of the communications satellite if left untouched. The silicon wafer disc, protected by a gold-plated aluminum cover bolted to the satellite's exterior, contains one hundred black-and-white photographs selected to represent the artist's take on modern human history.[5]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
