BS satellites were used for Direct-To-Home television services in Japan. Japanese satellite television, which uses an analog format, started with test broadcasts carried out by the semigovernmental NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) in 1984. At the time, direct satellite TV reception (DTH) was obtainable with a small parabolic antenna 40 cm to 60 cm in diameter in all areas of Japan when broadcast from a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) at 110 degrees east longitude. All BS satellites were of the same basic configuration: 3-axis stabilization of a rectangular satellite bus with two elongated solar arrays.