Galaxy (satellite)

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Galaxy
Manufacturer Hughes Aircraft Company,
Boeing Satellite Systems,
Orbital Sciences Corporation,
Space Systems/Loral,
Alcatel Alenia,
Northrop Grumman
Country of origin United States
Operator INTELSAT
ApplicationsCommunications
Specifications
Bus HS-376, HS-601, BSS-702,
STAR-2, SSL 1300, GEOStar-3
Regime Geostationary orbit
Production
StatusIn service
Launched39
Operational21
Retired14
Failed3
Maiden launch28 June 1983
Last launch3 August 2023
Galaxy VIII-I satellite Atlas IIAS with Galaxy 8i.jpg
Galaxy VIII-I satellite

The Galaxy series is a family of communications satellites originally developed and operated by Hughes Communications. It has since merged with PanAmSat and is now owned and operated by Intelsat. As one of the earliest geostationary satellites, Galaxy 1 was launched on 28 June 1983. The latest one, Galaxy 37, was launched on 3 August 2023.

SatelliteManufacturerLaunch VehicleLaunch DateLaunch SiteStateOrbital positionNotes
Galaxy 1 Hughes Aircraft Company Delta (3920)28 June 1983 Cape Canaveral, LC-17B Retired on 1 May 1994141.0° West
Galaxy 1R Hughes Aircraft Company Atlas I 22 August 1992 Cape Canaveral, LC-36B Launch failure—
Galaxy 1R2 Hughes Aircraft Company Delta II (7925-8)19 February 1994 Cape Canaveral, LC-17B Retired on 7 March 2006105.0° WestAlso called Galaxy 1RR
Galaxy 2 Hughes Aircraft Company Delta (3920)22 September 1983 Cape Canaveral, LC-17A Retired in May 199443.0° West
Galaxy 3 Hughes Aircraft Company Delta (3920)21 September 1984 Cape Canaveral, LC-17B Retired in October 199538.0° West
Galaxy 3R Hughes Aircraft Company Atlas 2A 15 December 1995 Cape Canaveral, LC-36A Failed in orbit in March 2006129.0° West
Galaxy 3C Hughes Aircraft Company Zenit-3SL 15 June 2002 Sea Launch Active95.0° West
Galaxy 4 Hughes Aircraft Company Ariane 42P+ 25 June 1993 Kourou, ELA-2 Failed in orbit in May 199878.0° East
Galaxy 4R Hughes Aircraft Company Ariane 42L 19 April 2000 Kourou, ELA-2 Retired in July 2006164.0° East
Galaxy 5 Hughes Aircraft Company Atlas I 14 March 1992 Cape Canaveral, LC-36B Retired in January 2005176.0° East
Galaxy 6 Hughes Aircraft Company Ariane 4L 12 October 1990 Kourou, ELA-2 Retired in February 2003145.0° West
Galaxy 7 Hughes Aircraft Company Ariane 42P+ 28 October 1992 Kourou, ELA-2 Failure in orbit in November 200096.0° West
Galaxy 8i Hughes Aircraft Company Atlas 2AS 8 December 1997 Cape Canaveral, LC-36B Retired in October 200230.0° East
Galaxy 8iR Hughes Aircraft Company Zenit-3SL ————Cancelled [1]
Galaxy 9 Hughes Aircraft Company Delta II (7925)23 May 1996 Cape Canaveral, LC-17B Retired176.0° West
Galaxy 10 Hughes Aircraft Company Delta III 893027 August 1998 Cape Canaveral, LC-17B Launch failure—
Galaxy 10R Hughes Aircraft Company Ariane 42L 25 January 2000 Kourou, ELA-2 Retired in June 2008175.0° West
Galaxy 11 Hughes Aircraft Company Ariane 44L 22 December 1999 Kourou, ELA-2 Active44.0° East
Galaxy 12 Orbital Sciences Corporation Ariane 5 G 9 April 2003 Kourou, ELA-3 Active129.0° WestWith INSAT-3A
Galaxy 13 Hughes Aircraft Company Zenit-3SL 1 October 2003 Sea Launch Active127.0° West Horizons-1
Galaxy 14 Orbital Sciences Corporation Soyuz-FG 13 August 2005 Baikonur, Site 31/6 Active125.0° West
Galaxy 15 Orbital Sciences Corporation Ariane 5 GS 13 October 2005 Kourou, ELA-3 Active (failure in orbit in April 2010, resolved in 2011)133.0° WestLaunched join with Syracuse 3A
Galaxy 16 Space Systems/Loral Zenit-3SL 18 June 2006 Sea Launch Active99.0° West
Galaxy 17 Alcatel Alenia Space Ariane 5 ECA 4 May 2007 Kourou, ELA-3 Active91.0° WestLaunched with Astra 1L
Galaxy 18 Space Systems/Loral Zenit-3SL 21 May 2008 Sea Launch Active123.0° West
Galaxy 19 Space Systems/Loral Zenit-3SL 24 September 2008 Sea Launch Active97.0° WestEx-Intelsat Americas 9 (IA 9)
Galaxy 23 Space Systems/Loral Zenit-3SL 8 August 2003 Sea Launch Active121.0° WestEx-Telstar 13
Galaxy 25 Space Systems/Loral Proton-K 24 May 1997 Baikonur, Site 81/23 Active93.0° WestEx-Telstar 5
Galaxy 26 Space Systems/Loral Proton-K 15 February 1999 Baikonur, Site 81/23 Retired on 7 June 201431.0° WestEx-Telstar 6
Galaxy 27 Space Systems/Loral Ariane 4 25 September 1999 Kourou, ELA-2 Active109.0° EastEx-Telstar 7
Galaxy 28 Space Systems/Loral Zenit-3SL 23 June 2005 Sea Launch,
Pacific Ocean 		Active89.0° WestEx-Intelsat Americas 8 (IA 8)
Galaxy 30 Northrop Grumman Ariane 5 ECA 15 August 2020 Kourou, ELA-3 Active125.0° WestLaunched with MEV-2 and BSAT-4b
Galaxy 31 Maxar Technologies Falcon 9 Block 5 12 November 2022 Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Active121.0° WestLaunched with Galaxy 32
Galaxy 32 Maxar Technologies Falcon 9 Block 5 12 November 2022 Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Active91.0° WestLaunched with Galaxy 31
Galaxy 33 Northrop Grumman Falcon 9 Block 5 8 October 2022 Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Active133.0° WestLaunched with Galaxy 34
Galaxy 34 Northrop Grumman Falcon 9 Block 5 8 October 2022 Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Active129.0° WestLaunched with Galaxy 33
Galaxy 35 Maxar Technologies Ariane 5 ECA 13 December 2022 Kourou, ELA-3 Active95.0° WestLaunched with Galaxy 36 and MTG-I1
Galaxy 36 Maxar Technologies Ariane 5 ECA 13 December 2022 Kourou, ELA-3 Active89.0° WestLaunched with Galaxy 35 and MTG-I1
Galaxy 37 Maxar Technologies Falcon 9 Block 5 3 August 2023 Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Active127.0° WestAlso known as Horizons-4

References

  1. ↑ On 15 November 2002, PanAmSat terminated its contract with Boeing Satellite Systems for the Galaxy 8iR satellite that was almost completed, claiming that Boeing did not comply with the terms of the contract, and requested US$72 million from Boeing to repay previous advances and other costs. The satellite was later converted to the ProtoStar 2 satellite, which was released in 2009, and was acquired that same year by SES which renamed it to SES-7.

External sources

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