Status: Retired 1992. First Launch: 1990-01-01. Last Launch: 1992-09-25. Number: 4 . Payload: 14,515 kg (32,000 lb). Thrust: 12,450.00 kN (2,798,870 lbf). Gross mass: 680,000 kg (1,490,000 lb). Height: 47.30 m (155.10 ft). Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft). Span: 9.20 m (30.10 ft). Apogee: 40,000 km (24,000 mi).
The design originated as the losing Martin submission for the USAF Medium Launch Vehicle competition (which was awarded to Douglas for their Delta 7000 series in January 1987). However commercial buyers had already booked flights on the booster in September 1986. Availability was however restricted due to renovation of Cape Canaveral pad 40 from July 1990 to 1992.
LEO Payload: 14,515 kg (32,000 lb). Payload: 1,850 kg (4,070 lb) to a GTO. Launch Price $: 136.600 million in 1992 dollars.
British military communications; 6 deg E. Military communications. Expected life approx 7 years. Owner/operator: Ministry of Defence, Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 6 deg E in 1990; 29 deg E in 1991; 65 deg E in 1991; 34 deg W in 1992-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 34.01 deg W drifting at 0.003 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 63.46W drifting at 4.595W degrees per day.
Japanese domestic communications; 154 deg E. Domestic communications. Launching organization Martin Marietta. Launch time 0007 GMT. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 154 deg E in 1990-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 154.04 deg E drifting at 0.006 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 116.78W drifting at 6.255W degrees per day.
38 C-band and 10 Ku-band transponders. Placed in unusable low earth orbit after second stage separation failure. In May 1992 shuttle STS-49 snared the satellite, and in three EVA's the crew attached a new perigee boost motor, which then reboosted the satellite to geosynchrounous orbit. Positioned at 34 deg W in 1992-1997; 24 deg W in 1997-2001. Later assigned to Intelsat spin-off New Skies, which positioned it at 340º East, from where it provided C-band coverage of the entire Atlantic region, including virtually all of Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the eastern half of North America. As an inclined orbit satellite, IS-603 was best suited for voice/data trunking and video contribution, but could also be used for carrier-scale IP services, notably network bridging and expansion. It supplemented the prime Atlantic region coverage provided by the station-kept NSS 7 satellite, located at 338º East. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 19.96W drifting at 0.012W degrees per day.
International communications; 63 deg E. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 38 deg W in 1990; 27 deg W in 1990-1992; 60 deg E in 1992-1999 As of 3 September 2001 located at 60.04 deg E drifting at 0.000 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 61.81E drifting at 6.628W degrees per day.