Intelsat III F-8
Intelsat III F-8 was a communications satellite owned by Intelsat. The satellite had an estimated useful life of 5 years.
Mission type | Communications |
---|---|
Operator | Intelsat |
COSPAR ID | 1970-055A |
SATCAT no. | 04478 |
Mission duration | 5 years (planned) Launch failure |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | TRW |
Launch mass | 293 kilograms (646 lb) |
BOL mass | 151 kilograms (333 lb) |
Power | 183 W |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | July 23, 1970, 00:16:03 UTC[1] |
Rocket | Delta M |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-17A |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric[2] |
Regime | Geostationary[2] |
Eccentricity | 0.24386[2] |
Perigee altitude | 19,400 kilometers (12,100 mi)[2] |
Apogee altitude | 36,030 kilometers (22,390 mi)[2] |
Inclination | 13.3°[2] |
Period | 1,043.0 minutes[2] |
Epoch | July 23, 1970[2] |
Intelsat III |
Design
The last of eight Intelsat III satellites to be launched, Intelsat III F-8 was built by TRW. It was a 293-kilogram (646 lb) spacecraft equipped with two transponders to be powered by body-mounted solar cells generating 183 watts of power.[3] It had a design life of five years and carried an SVM-2 apogee motor for propulsion.[4]
Launch
Intelsat III F-8 was launched on a Delta M rocket, flying from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch took place on July 23, 1970, with the spacecraft bound for a geosynchronous transfer orbit.[1]
The Intelsat III F-8 was lost due to a malfunction during the apogee motor firing. Communications stopped 14.5 seconds into the planned 27 second apogee motor burn.
See also
References
- McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center. "INTELSAT 3 F-8". NSSDC Master Catalog. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- Wade, Mark. "Intelsat 3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- Krebs, Gunter. "Intelsat-3". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved April 21, 2017.