Superbird-A, also identified as Superbird-1 before launch, was a

geostationary 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 altitude ...

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 ...

designed and manufactured by

Ford Aerospace Ford Aerospace was the aerospace and defense division of Ford Motor Company. It was based in Dearborn, Michigan and was active from 1956 (originally as Philco and then Philco Ford) through 1990, when it was sold to the Loral Corporation. Major div ...

) on the SSL 1300 satellite bus. It was originally ordered by Space Communications Corporation (SCC), which later merged into the

SKY Perfect JSAT Group The SKY Perfect JSAT Group is a Japanese corporate group that claims to be Asia's largest satellite communication and multi-channel pay TV company. It owns the SKY PerfecTV! satellite broadcasting service and the SKY Perfect Well Think content s ...

. It had a mixed Ku-band, Ka-band and X-band payload and operated on the 158° East longitude. It was ordered in 1985 along

Superbird-B Superbird-2, also identified as Superbird-B after launch if successful, was a geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Ford Aerospace on the SSL 1300 satellite bus. It was originally ordered by Space Communications C ...

Superbird-A1 Superbird-A1, also identified as Superbird-1A before launch, was a geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Ford Aerospace (now Space Systems/Loral) on the SSL 1300 satellite bus. It was originally ordered by Space Co ...

and

Superbird-B1 Superbird-B1, sometimes identified as Superbird-1B, was a geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Ford Aerospace on the SSL 1300 satellite bus. It was originally ordered by Space Communications Corporation (SCC), whic ...

on the very first order of the SSL 1300 platform. It was also the first satellite of SCC and the second commercial satellite of Japan after

JCSAT-1 JCSAT-1 was a geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Hughes (now Boeing) on the HS-393 satellite bus. It was originally ordered by Japan Communications Satellite Company (JCSAT), which later merged into the JSAT Co ...

. It was used for video distribution, news gathering, remote publishing and high definition TV service to the main islands of Japan and

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Satellite description

The spacecraft was the first satellite designed and manufactured by

on the SSL 1300

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 ...

. It was based on the design of the Intelsat V series and offered a

three-axis stabilized Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...

platform. It had a launch mass of and a 10-year design life. When stowed for launch, its dimensions were . With its

solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...

fully extended it spanned . Its power system generated approximately 3,984

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power due to two wings with three solar panels each. It also a NiH₂ battery to survive the solar eclipses. It would serve as the main satellite on the 158° East longitude position of the Superbird. Its propulsion system included an R-4D-11 liquid apogee engine (LAE) with a thrust of . It included enough propellant for orbit circularization and 10 years of operation. Its payload is composed of 23 Ku-band, 3 Ka-band, plus 2 X-band

transponders In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

History

Space Communications Corporation (SCC) was founded in 1985, the same year as the original companies that later formed JSAT. In 1986, SCC ordered four spacecraft from

, Superbird-1, Superbird-2,

and

. On 5 June 1989 at 22:37:18 UTC, Superbird-1, the second private communications satellite of Japan, was launched aboard an

Ariane 44L The Ariane 4 was a European expendable space launch system, developed by the ''Centre national d'études spatiales'' (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Arian ...

along DFS Kopernikus-1. It was injected into a 185 km x 35,981 km geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), from which it climbed through three liquid apogee engine (LAE) firings. Once in its 158° East longitude position, it was rechristened as Superbird-A.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1989 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the SSL 1300 bus Spacecraft launched in 1989 Communications satellites of Japan 1989 in Japan