Brasilsat A1 was a Brazilian

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. C ...

which was operated by

Embratel Embratel is a major Brazilian telecommunications company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The company was the long distance arm of Telebras until it was bought by the U.S. company MCI Communications for 2.65 billion Brazilian real, reais during ...

. It was constructed by the

Spar Aerospace SPAR Aerospace was a Canadian aerospace company. It produced equipment for the Canadian Space Agency to be used in cooperation with NASA's Space Shuttle program, most notably the Canadarm, a remote manipulator system. The company went through a ...

, and is based on the

HS-376 The Boeing 376 (sometimes referred to as the BSS-376, and previously as the HS-376) is a communications satellite bus introduced in 1978 by Hughes Space and Communications Company. It was a spin-stabilized bus that the manufacturer claims was th ...

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus-d ...

. The Brasilsat A1 was off duty in March 2002 and was transferred to the

graveyard orbit A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit that lies away from common operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a supersynchronous orbit well beyond geosynchronous orbit. Some satellites are moved int ...

Specifications

The satellite had the shape of a cylinder, where at its top was located a directional antenna that opened after the launching of the satellite. The satellite had a mass in orbit of 671 kg, had a rotation stabilized between 50 and 55

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

, its propellers used as a propellant 136 kg of

hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...

and was powered by

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s that supplied 982 Watts at the beginning of its phase of operation, using two NiCd batteries as power reserve. It carried 24 C-band transmitters with six spare transmitters. They provided an effective incident radiated power (EIRP) of 34 dBW for most of the Brazilian territory. * Lead contractor:

* Model used:

* Mass at launch: 1,195 kg * Mass in orbit: 671 kg * Diameter: 2.19 m * Height: 7.09 m when open * Stabilization: rotation stabilized at 50 rpm * Power at start: 982 watts * Final power: 799 watts * Primary: 9 years (Extended: + 2 years)

History

In the 1980s,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

needed its own satellites to exempt foreigners. As a result of this effort, the Brazilian company Embratel contracted in August 1982 the Canadian

, in partnership with American

Hughes Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria La ...

, to build its series of satellites Brasilsat A, the series consisted of two satellites, the Brasilsat A1 and the Brasilsat A2. The Brasilsat A1 satellite was the first Brazilian satellite to give Brazil independence in satellite telecommunications services, through the former state-owned

, now privatized. Before it, Embratel only rented third-party satellite transmitters. The satellite was launched on February 8, 1985, by an Ariane model rocket from the

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

launch base in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

and placed in a

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

over Brazilian territory. Two satellites were acquired from the company Spar Aerospace, model

, manufactured under Hughes Space licenses. They cost about $125 million. The satellites initially received the name of Brasilsat 1 and 2 and formed the beginning of the ''Sistema Brasileiro de Telecomunicações por Satélite'' or ''SBTS'' (in English: Brazilian Telecommunications Satellite System). The satellite was stationed on the meridian 65 degrees west. Subsequent to the launch of the second generation of Brasilsat satellites, they were renamed Brasilsat A1 and A2. With the end of its life and already in an inclined orbit, the Brasilsat A1 was sold to HCI in October 1995. The antenna was redirected to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Control of the satellite was passed to

PanAmSat The former PanAmSat Corporation founded in 1984 by Reynold (Rene) Anselmo, was a satellite service provider headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It operated a fleet of communications satellites used by the entertainment ind ...

on November 12, 1997. After the satellite was launched in February 1985, it was placed in the orbital position of 65 degrees west

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

. In 1994 it was transferred to 63 degrees west in inclined orbit, where it remained until the middle of June 1996, when it was moved to 79 degrees west in inclined orbit, where it remained until August 1998 in January 1999 it went to 144 degrees west in inclined orbit, the Brasilsat A1 remained in this position until March 2002 when it left of service and was sent to the

. Its replacement in the orbital position of 65 degrees west to continue with the

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

transmissions, was the satellite Brasilsat B2, that was released in 1995.

Release

The satellite was successfully launched into space on February 8, 1985, at 23:22:00 UTC by means of an

Ariane 3 Ariane 3 was a European expendable carrier rocket, which was used for eleven launches between 1984 and 1989. It was a member of the Ariane family of rockets. The principal manufacturer for the Ariane 3 was Aérospatiale, while the lead agency f ...

vehicle launched from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana along with the

Arabsat-1A Arabsat-1A ( ar, عربسات-A1) was a Saudi Arabian communications satellite which was operated by Arab Satellite Communications Organization. It was used to provide communication services to the Arab States. It was constructed by Aérospatiale ...

. It had a launch mass of .

Capacity and coverage

Brasilsat A1 was equipped with 24 transponders in C-band (plus 6 spare) to provide telecommunications services to

References

External links

Embratel website
{{Orbital launches in 1985 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the HS-376 bus First artificial satellites of a country Star One satellites