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Westar
Westar was a fleet of geosynchronous communications satellites operating in the C band which were launched by Western Union from 1974 to 1984. There were seven Westar satellites in all, with five of them launched and operating under the Westar name. Background Westar 1 (launched on April 13, 1974) has the distinction of being the USA's first commercially launched geosynchronous communications satellite, following North America's first geosynchronous communications satellite, Canada's Anik A1 Anik may refer to: * Anik (satellite), satellites launched by Canadian telecommunications company Telesat * Anik, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Anik Mountain * Anik Bissonnette, a Canadian ballet dancer * Anik Jean (born 1977) ... in 1972. Westar 1 was put into orbit at 99° W in the Clarke belt (99° W now being the home of List of Intelsat satellites#Galaxy (Intelsat Americas), Galaxy 16). Westar 2 was launched shortly afterward on October 10, 1974. Westa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westar 1
Westar 1 was America's first domestic and commercially launched geostationary communications satellite, launched by Western Union (WU) and NASA on April 13, 1974. It was built by Hughes Aircraft, Hughes for Western Union, using the HS-333 platform of spin-stabilisation, spin-stabilized satellites. It operated until 1983. Mission Westar 1 was the first of five Westar satellites launched by Western Union from 1974 to 1982. Westar 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2914 launch vehicle from Complex 17 on April 13, 1974. The launch vehicle delivered the satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. After transiting to a near geosynchronous apogee, the satellite employed an apogee kick motor to raise the perigee of the orbit and reduce inclination to near-geostationary. Westars 1, 2, and 3 were 12-transponder satellites while Westar 4 and Westar 5 were launched with 24 transponders. Western Union built a Earth station, teleport in Cedar Hill, Texas, to uplink content to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STS-51-A
STS-51-A (formerly STS-19) was the 14th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the second flight of Space Shuttle ''Discovery''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 8, 1984, and landed just under eight days later on November 16, 1984. STS-51-A marked the first time a shuttle deployed two communications satellites, and retrieved from orbit two other communications satellites. The Canadian Anik D2 and Syncom IV-1 satellites were both successfully deployed by the crew of ''Discovery''. Palapa B2 and Westar 6, meanwhile, had been deployed during the STS-41-B mission earlier in the year, but had been placed into improper orbits due to the malfunctioning of their kick motors; they were both safely recovered and returned to Earth during STS-51-A. Crew Spacewalks * '' Allen and Gardner '' – EVA 1 * EVA 1 Start: November 12, 1984 – 13:25 UTC * EVA 1 End: November 12, 1984 - 19:25 UTC * Duration: 6 hours, 0 minute * '' Allen and Gardner '' – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STS-51-A Westar 6 Retrieval
STS-51-A (formerly STS-19) was the 14th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the second flight of Space Shuttle ''Discovery''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 8, 1984, and landed just under eight days later on November 16, 1984. STS-51-A marked the first time a shuttle deployed two communications satellites, and retrieved from orbit two other communications satellites. The Canadian Anik D2 and Syncom IV-1 satellites were both successfully deployed by the crew of ''Discovery''. Palapa B2 and Westar 6, meanwhile, had been deployed during the STS-41-B mission earlier in the year, but had been placed into improper orbits due to the malfunctioning of their kick motors; they were both safely recovered and returned to Earth during STS-51-A. Crew Spacewalks * '' Allen and Gardner '' – EVA 1 * EVA 1 Start: November 12, 1984 – 13:25 UTC * EVA 1 End: November 12, 1984 - 19:25 UTC * Duration: 6 hours, 0 minute * '' Allen and Gardner '' – E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AsiaSat 1
AsiaSat 1 was a Hong Kong communications satellite, which was owned, and was operated, by the Hong Kong based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company. It was positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 100.5° East. It spent its operational life at 100.5° East, from where it was used to provide fixed satellite services, including broadcasting, audio and data transmission, to Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Satellite description AsiaSat 1 was built by Hughes Space and Communications. It is based on the HS-376 satellite bus. At launch, it had a mass of , and a design life of thirteen years. It carries twenty four C-band transponders. Launch The launch of AsiaSat 1 was contracted to the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), and used a Long March 3 launch vehicle. The launch was conducted from Xichang Launch Area 3 (LA-3) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre at 13:30:02 UTC on 7 April 1990. Westar 6 Westar 6 was launched from the space shuttle in Februa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communications Satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. Many communications satellites are in geostationary orbit above the equator, so that the satellite appears stationary at the same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite. Others form satellite constellations in low Earth orbit, where antennas on the ground have to follow the position of the satellites and switch between satellites frequently. The high frequency radio waves used for telecommunications links travel by line of sight and so are obstructed by the curve of the Earth. The purpose of communications sate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HS 333
In 1970, Hughes Aircraft Company (HAC) Space and Communications Group offered the first standardized satellite: the HS 333 design. A spinning satellite, it was based on previous one-design satellites like Intelsat I. HAC built eight of these 300 watt, 12 channel single antenna satellites between 1970 and 1977.Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Space and Communications Group, SBS F6 Prime sales brochure, 1985 Design The early satellites were designed with cylindrical bodies to maximize the size of the satellite that could fit inside of the rocket's nose cone or fairing which was also round. The early design satellites also relied on spinning at about 30 rpm for stability in orbit. The spinning satellite is a gyroscope. Several parallel decks, including the top and bottom, were used to mount the propulsion, attitude control, communication, Telemetry & Command (T&C), and power equipment. The upper deck or top of the satellite contained the payload antenna and the T&C antenna. The outer s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satcom 1
Satcom, a portmanteau of satellite communications, was a brand of artificial geo-stationary communications satellites originally developed and operated by RCA American Communications ( RCA Americom) that facilitated wide-area telecommunications by receiving radio signals from Earth, amplifying them, and relaying them back down to terrestrial receivers. Satcom was one of the early geostationary satellites; the first were the Syncom series, in 1964. The first Satcom satellite, Satcom 1, was launched on 13 December 1975. The last satellite, Satcom K2, was placed into orbit on 27 November 1985 and was de-orbited in February 2002. Satcom was first superseded and then replaced by the GE series of satellites. The Satcom system passed to General Electric with its purchase of RCA in 1986. RCA Americom became GE American Communications (GE Americom) and the satellite construction division became GE Astro Space. GE Astro Space was sold to Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin Spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STS-41-B
STS-41-B was the tenth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the fourth flight of the . It launched on 3 February 1984, and landed on 11 February 1984 after deploying two communications satellites. It was also notable for including the first untethered spacewalk. Following STS-9, the flight numbering system for the Space Shuttle program was changed. Thus, the next flight, instead of being designated STS-10, became STS-41-B; the original successor to STS-9, STS-10, was canceled due to payload delays. Crew Spacewalks ;EVA 1 * Personnel: McCandless and Stewart * Date: 7 February 1984 * Duration: 5 hours, 55 minutes ;EVA 2 * Personnel: McCandless and Stewart * Date: 9 February 1984 * Duration: 6 hours, 17 minutes Crew seating arrangements Mission summary ''Challenger'' lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 08:00:00 a.m. EST on 3 February 1984. It was estimated that 100,000 people attended the launch. Two communications satellites were deployed about 8 hours afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company changed its name to the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856 after merging with several other telegraph companies. The company dominated the American telegraphy industry from the 1860s to the 1980s, pioneering technology such as telex and developing a range of telegraph-related services (including wire money transfer) in addition to its core business of transmitting and delivering telegram messages. After experiencing financial difficulties, Western Union began to move its business away from communications in the 1980s and increasingly focused on its money transfer services. The company ceased its communications operations completely in 2006, at which time The New York Times described it as "the world's largest money-transfer business" and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time Division Multiple Access
Time-division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared-medium networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using its own time slot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g. radio frequency channel) while using only a part of its channel capacity. Dynamic TDMA is a TDMA variant that dynamically reserves a variable number of time slots in each frame to variable bit-rate data streams, based on the traffic demand of each data stream. TDMA is used in the digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. TDMA was first used in satellite communication systems by Western Union in its Westar 3 communications satellite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palapa B2
Palapa is a series of Communications satellites owned by Indosat, an Indonesian telecommunications company (formerly by Perumtel and then by PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia/Satelindo). Starting with the first in July 1976, at which time Indonesia became the first developing country to operate its own domestic satellite system. The estimated cost for the project was US$1 billion. History The first satellite, Palapa-A1 of , was launched on 8 July 1976 at 23:31 UTC from Kennedy Space Center by a Delta 2914 launch vehicle, or at 06:31 Indonesian Time on 9 July 1976. Palapa-A2 was launched on 10 March 1977. The name "Palapa" was bestowed by then Indonesian President Suharto, after the Palapa oath sworn by Gajah Mada, the Prime Minister of Majapahit Kingdom, in 1334. According to the Pararaton (Book of Kings), Gajah Mada swore that he would not taste any ''palapa'' (historians suggest it refers to spice or a kind of flavouring), as long as he had not succeeded in unifying N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AsiaSat
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, known by its brand name AsiaSat, is a commercial operator of communication spacecraft. AsiaSat, based in Hong Kong, is incorporated in Bermuda. AsiaSat is jointly owned by Chinese state-owned CITIC Limited and private equity fund The Carlyle Group L.P. indirectly. It had a market capitalization of HK$2 billion on 30 November 2018. It was a red chip company of the stock exchange. On 23 August 2019, the take private proposal scheme was approved by AsiaSat's public shareholders, followed by the approval of the Bermuda Court on 3 September 2019, whereupon the Company became a private wholly owned subsidiary of Bowenvale Limited, a joint venture of CITIC and Carlyle. The listing of the company's shares was withdrawn from the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on 5 September 2019. History In September 2017, AsiaSat 9, AsiaSat's latest satellite built by Space Systems/Loral was successfully launched and replaced AsiaSat 4 at 122° East. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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