Intelsat III F-8

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Intelsat III F-8
Mission type Communications
Operator Intelsat
COSPAR ID 1970-055A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 04478
Mission duration5 years (planned)
Launch failure
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer TRW
Launch mass293 kilograms (646 lb)
BOL mass 151 kilograms (333 lb)
Power183 W
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 23, 1970, 00:16:03 (1970-07-23UTC00:16:03Z) 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
Intelsat IV F-1 (Intelsat IV) 
 

Intelsat III F-8 was a communications satellite owned by Intelsat. The satellite had an estimated useful life of 5 years.

Contents

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

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References

  1. 1 2 McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center. "INTELSAT 3 F-8". NSSDC Master Catalog. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  3. Wade, Mark. "Intelsat 3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 23, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  4. Krebs, Gunter. "Intelsat-3". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved April 21, 2017.