AKA: Ford Aeroneutronic Systems Division (1959);Ford Aerospace Corp (1976);Ford Philco Aeronutronic (1963);Ford Systems Research Group (1956);Space Systems/Loral (1990);Systems Research Corporation. Location: Palo Alto, California.
Geosynchronous. Stationed over 118.7W Launch vehicle put payload into subsynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 119 deg W in 1997-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 118.82 deg W drifting at 0.001 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 42.64E drifting at 4.479W degrees per day.
Geosynchronous. Stationed over 105.7W Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 105 deg W in 1997-1998; 135 deg W in 1998-1999 As of 6 September 2001 located at 135.09 deg W drifting at 0.037 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 59.64W drifting at 0.009W degrees per day.
The Proton launch vehicles Block DM3 fourth stage put the Panamsat PAS 8 into a 6784 km x 35941 km x 17.3 degree transfer orbit. PAS 8 had 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders and was to be located over the Pacific after its R-4D apogee engine manoeuvred the orbit to geostationary altitude and inclination. Geostationary at 166.1 degrees E. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 166 deg E in 1998-1999 As of 4 September 2001 located at 166.05 deg E drifting at 0.003 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 165.96E drifting at 0.002E degrees per day.
Loral Skynet's Telstar 6 had a mixed C and Ku band communications payload. The Block DM3 upper stage released Telstar 6 in a 6638 km x 35,756 km x 17.4 degree geosynchronous transfer orbit. After the first burn of its on-board R-4D engine on February 18, Telstar 6 was in a 15,037 km x 35,800 km x 7.9 deg transfer orbit heading for its final geosynchronous slot at 93 deg W Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 93 deg W in 1999. As of 2 September 2001 located at 93.01 deg W drifting at 0.004 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 93.03W drifting at 0.007W degrees per day.
The Centaur RL-10B-2 second stage engine's combustion chamber ruptured at the beginning of the second burn. The hot gases already in the chamber vented, putting the stage/spacecraft assembly into an uncontrollable tumble. The Orion 3 communications satellite ended up in a useless parking orbit of 162 km x 1378 km x 29.5 deg. It was to have served the Asia-Pacific region for Loral Orion with 33 Ku-band and 10 C-band transponders.
The Centaur second stage put Echostar 5 into a supersynchronous transfer orbit of 131 km x 45526 km x 26.6 degrees. The satellite's own engine put it into the final geosynchronous orbit. Echostar 5 was a Ku-band satellite, part of the Dish Network. Stationed at 110 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 110 deg W in 1999. As of 5 September 2001 located at 110.01 deg W drifting at 0.003 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 128.86W drifting at 0.001E degrees per day.
Telstar 7, owned by Loral Skynet, had 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders. Dry mass was 1537 kg. After placement in final geosynchronous orbit it provided communications for North America from a position at 129 degrees East longitude. Sold to Intelsat in March 2004 and renamed IA-7. The satellite had a power failure on November 28, 2004 and was briefly declared lost. Intelsat recovered control of the satellite by December 4. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 129.01W drifting at 0.007W degrees per day.
Satellite used for international communications; complement the Telstar satellites operated by Loral Skynet. Stationed at 15 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 15 deg W in 1999. As of 6 September 2001 located at 14.97 deg W drifting at 0.006 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 14.99W drifting at 0.006W degrees per day.
Multi-functional Transportation Satellite intended to provide communications and air traffic control for the Japanese transportation ministry and a meteorological data for the Japanese Meteorological Agency. The spacecraft had a mass of 1223 kg dry and was a follow-on to the GMS (Himawari) weather satellite series.
US civilian geostationary weather satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series. It was the first GOES launch on the Atlas II launch vehicle (the Atlas I having been phased out). Built by SS/Loral, based on the FS-1300 bus. It was equipped with one solar panel array and a counter-boom with a solar sail. The satellite carried well as an imaging radiometer and an X-ray detector to monitor solar activity. Stationed at 106 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 104 deg W in 2000. As of 5 September 2001 located at 108.58 deg W drifting at 0.018 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 135.52W drifting at 0.001E degrees per day.
Digital Audio Radio Satellite, used for transmission of S-band radio broadcasts direct to receivers in cars in the United States. Sirius 1 was inserted into an initial 6,166 x 47110 km x 63.4 deg transfer orbit by the Proton-K's Blok DM3 upper stage. The satellite's R4D liquid apogee engine made several burns to raise the orbit to 24,388 x 47,097 km x 63.3 deg by July 8. This elliptical, inclined 24 hour orbit had a 24 hour period, designed to keep the satellite between longitude 60W and 140W, with apogee over the northern hemisphere. Stationed at 66 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 66 deg W in 2000. As of 6 September 2001 located at 65.59 deg W drifting at 0.015 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 65.37W drifting at 0.004E degrees per day.
Sirius Radio's Sirius 2 was launched into a 144 x 168 km x 64.8 deg parking orbit. The Blok DM3 stage then made two burns to deliver Sirius 2 to an elliptical 6192 x 47057 km x 63.4 deg orbit. The was to provide digital radio broadcasts to mobile users in North America. Stationed at 64 deg W. As of 31 August 2001 located at 64.56 deg W drifting at 0.003 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 67.77W drifting at 0.049E degrees per day.
100th Ariane 4 launch. Communications satellite, stationed at 45 deg E. Europeon.Star FM1 was a Loral FS-1300 model with a launch mass of 4167 kg and a dry mass of 1717 kg. The satellite had two cruciform solar arrays. The Ariane booster placed it into a geostationary transfer orbit. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 45 deg E in 2000. As of 4 September 2001 located at 44.95 deg E drifting at 0.011 deg E per day. As of 2007 Feb 23 located at 44.97E drifting at 0.001W degrees per day.
Direct Radio Broadcasting satellite. Launch delayed from early October due to delays in delivery of engines. Stationed at 66 deg W. The third Sirius digital radio broadcast satellite was a Loral FS-1300 series vehicle and was placed in an initial elliptical 63 degree orbit by the Proton upper stage. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 66 deg W in 2000. As of 30 August 2001 located at 64.69 deg W drifting at 0.027 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 65.64W drifting at 0.010E degrees per day.
Launch delayed from June 8. The first of the Intelsat 9 series provided telecommunications (Internet, video and telephone) services from a geosynchronous position at 18 deg W over the Atlantic Ocean. Intelsat 901 was an FS-1300HL, an improved version of the long-standing Space Systems/Loral (originally Aeronutronic Ford) FS-1300 platform. The satellite was to provide voice and video services to Europe and the Americas through 44 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders. The satellite had C-band beams for the Atlantic region and a Ku-band spot beam for Europe, and an R-4D liquid apogee engine. Dry mass was 1972 kg and launch mass of 4723 kg. The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO), beginning with its first satellite, Early Bird (1965-028A), had as of this date successfully launched 54 satellites, 19 of which were operational. As of 27 August 2001 located at 54.26 deg W drifting at 1.105 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 8 located at 18.01W drifting at 0.008W degrees per day.
Launch delayed from July 12, 15 and 22. The GOES-M weather satellite was placed by the Atlas AC-142 Centaur stage into a 164 x 505 km parking orbit and then a super synchronous transfer orbit of 274 x 42275 km x 20 deg. GOES-M was a Loral 1300-series satellite with a single solar array and a solar attitude control sail. Launch mass was 2279 kg and dry mass 1042 kg. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites were developed by NASA-Goddard and were transferred to the NOAA weather agency when operational. In addition to the usual weather imager/sounder, GOES-M carried a new solar soft X-ray imager. Earlier GOES satellites carried simple X-ray collimator detectors, but the new SXI was a full-fledged grazing incidence telescope similar to the SXT on Japan's Yohkoh satellite. The GOES-M satellite was redesignated GOES 12 once in orbit.
GOES 12 was a 980 kg, 973 W spacecraft that carried an IR imager, a "sounder", and an X-ray imager. The IR imager was a Cassegrain telescope covering five wavelength channels, 0.55-0.75, 3.80-4.00, 6.50-7.00, 10.20-11.20, and 11.50-12.50 microns. It provided images covering 3,000 km x 3,000 km every 41 seconds, by scanning the area in 16 square kilometer sections. The "sounder" provided vertical distribution of temperature, moisture and ozone, by passive monitoring in 18 depth-dependent wavelengths. (Long wave IR: 14.71, 14.37, 14.06, 13.64, 13.37, 12.66, and 12.02 microns. Medium wave IR: 11.03, 9.71, 7.43, 7.02, and 6.51 microns. Short wave IR: 4.57, 4.52, 4.45, 4.13, 3.98, and 3.74 microns. There was also another band at visible wavelength 0.7 microns, to provide pictures of cloud tops.) The sounder covered an area of 3,000 km x 3,000 km in about 42 minutes. Another instrument package named SEM (Space Environment Monitor) monitored the energetic electrons and protons in the magnetosphere and the X-rays from the Sun. The above three had been carried on the earlier GOES missions, but GOES 12 carried also an X-ray imager providing an X-ray (about 0.1-1.0 nm wavelength) picture of the solar disk. For some months, the spacecraft was to be on standby, to be activated and moved to a desired longitude. As of 5 September 2001 located at 89.93 deg W drifting at 0.001 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 74.73W drifting at 0.014E degrees per day.
Launch delayed from August 24. The Intelsat 902 geosynchronous communications satellite was stationed initially over the Indian Ocean, providing coverage to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia through its 44 C- and 12 Ku-band transponders. The Loral FS-1300 satellite had a dry mass of 1978 kg and carried a further 2745 kg of propellant at launch. As of 4 September 2001 located at 56.46 deg E drifting at 0.118 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 61.96E drifting at 0.002E degrees per day.
Communications satellite. Launch delayed from February 14 and 20. The Ariane 44L placed the Loral FS-1300HL-class Intelsat 904 satellite in a 176 x 35812 km x 7.0 deg geostationary transfer orbit. The spacecraft was to be used for Indian Ocean region communications. Intelsat 904 had a dry mass of 2350 kg and carried 2330 kg of fuel. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 59.96E drifting at 0.000E degrees per day.
Communications satellite. Moved from Proton M to Proton K booster. Launch delayed from November 26, 2001, and March 4, 2002. The three stage Proton booster put the DM3 upper stage and payload on a suborbital trajectory. The first DM3 burn reached a circular 160 km orbit at 1742 UTC. The second burn at 1838 UTC raised apogee to about 35800 km, and a third burn near apogee at 2339 UTC raised perigee to about 3500 km and lowered inclination to 25 deg. Blok DM3 separated from the Intelsat 903 payload at 0008 UTC on March 31. By April 5, Intelsat 903 was in a 31653 x 35817 km x 0.7 deg near-synchronous orbit. Intelsat 903 had a launch mass of 4726 kg and a dry mass around 2350 kg, and carried C and Ku band antennas. It was built by SS/Loral using a derivative of the FS-1300 platform. As of 2007 Mar 5 located at 34.50W drifting at 0.011W degrees per day.
Direct Broadcasting satellite. Launch delayed from October 2000, February, May 21 and October19, 2001, as the user and launch provider moved the payload from Proton to Atlas 2AS and then back again to Proton. The DM3 upper stage made two burns to put the DirecTV satellite in a 6568 x 35809 km x 17.7 deg transfer orbit. The Loral FS-1300 class satellite used its R-4D apogee engine to reach geostationary orbit at 129 W by May 19. The DirecTV satellite broadcasting company was a subsidiary of GM/Hughes. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 110.11W drifting at 0.004W degrees per day.
Intelsat 905 was launched into a geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite had a mass of 1984 kg with 2739 kg of propellant and was built by Loral for the privatized Intelsat company. It was to be stationed over the Atlantic. The Intelsat 905 satellite used a new version of the venerable General Dynamics R-4D bipropellant engine, the R-4D-15 HiPAT (High Performance Apogee Thruster) with a thrust of 445N. The first two HiPATs were built by Marquardt/Van Nuys, but new ones were built at GD's Redmond site. By June 15, I-905 was in a 35642 x 35793 km x 0.1 deg geostationary drift orbit at 26 deg W. As of 2007 Mar 8 located at 24.48W drifting at 0.007W degrees per day.
Launch delayed from June 16 and 22, July 18, August 2 and 20 due to payload problems. Echostar 8 was an American geostationary communication spacecraft. The 4.7-ton satellite was to provide digital TV broadcast to North America through its 16 spot beams and 41 transponders in the Ku-band after parking over 110° W longitude. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 110.01W drifting at 0.003W degrees per day.
Final Ariane 4 launch. Intelsat 907 was scheduled to be in service March 2003 and provide enhanced C-band coverage for the Americas, Africa and Europe and high-power Ku-band spot beam coverage for Europe and Africa. The satellite replaced Intelsat 605 at 332.5 deg E. With more than twice the Ku-band power, Intelsat 907 would support corporate broadcast distribution and broadband applications including high speed Internet access, multicasting and streaming. Users of the new satellite would require 1.0 m Ku-band antennae to access the satellite. Flexible transponder activation allowed use of Ku-Band for 14 out of 16 channels. With a total of up to 76 C-Band 36 MHz equivalent unit transponders, Intelsat 907 provided 19% more capacity than the satellite it replaced. C-band footprints included full coverage of South and Central America, broad coverage over Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and connectivity to North America. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 27.53W drifting at 0.006W degrees per day.
Return to flight of Ariane 5 EC-A after booster failure on first launch. Delayed from April, June, September 28, October 28, November 3 and 8, 2004; and February 11, 2005. XTAR-EUR was a Spanish X-band military communications satellite operated by Hisdesat/XTAR of Spain. It had a dry mass of 1412 kg and 2219 kg of propellant. As of 2007 Mar 8 located at 28.95E drifting at 0.006W degrees per day.
Return to flight after earlier failure; first commercial mission for H-2A. Delayed from August 2003, January 2004, and February 24, 2005. The dual-purpose satellite was to provide weather data for the Japanese Meteorological Agency (as with others in the Himawari-GMS series), and air traffic control support (airplane-ATC voice/data links, GPS augmentation and airplane position tracking) for the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 140.26E drifting at 0.000E degrees per day.
Provided United States direct-television broadcast coverage from the 101 degrees West longitude orbital slot. The satellite carried 16 high-power transponders for high-quality national digital video services. Purchased in October 2003 together with DirecTV-9S for a total price of $220 million for both. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 100.77W drifting at 0.002W degrees per day.
Broadband internet satellite, using the Ka-band satellite. Dry mass 2000 kg. At separation of the Ariane core the stack was in a -1282 km x 233 km x 6.9 deg suborbital trajectory. The ESC-A upper stage fired to put the satellites in a geostationary transfer orbit of 265 km x 35700 km x 2.0 deg. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 111.14W drifting at 0.004W degrees per day.