Superbird-B1, sometimes identified as Superbird-1B, 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 The SSL 1300, previously the LS-1300 and the FS-1300, is a satellite bus produced by Maxar Technologies. Total broadcast power ranges from 5 to 25 kW, and the platform can accommodate from 12 to 150 transponders. The SSL 1300 is a modular platf ...

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 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 The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...

Ka-band The Ka band (pronounced as either "kay-ay band" or "ka band") is a portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as frequencies in the range 26.5–40 gigahertz (GHz), i.e. wavelengths from slightly over one centime ...

and

X-band The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxim ...

payload and was rushed into launch at the 162° East longitude due to the launch failure of

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 ...

. It was ordered in 1985 along

Superbird-A Superbird-A, also identified as Superbird-1 before launch, 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 (S ...

and

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 ...

on the very first order of the SSL 1300 platform. It was also the second satellite of SCC on orbit and the fourth commercial satellite of Japan to enter operations. 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 third satellite designed and manufactured by

on the SSL 1300 satellite bus. It was based on the design of the

Intelsat V Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as I ...

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 4 kW of power due to two wings with three solar panels each. It also had two NiH₂ batteries to survive the

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

s. It would serve as the main satellite on the 162°E longitude position of the Superbird fleet. 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

plus 3

and 2

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, Superbird-1, Superbird-2,

and Superbird-B1, from

, which became

Space Systems/Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

in October 1990. On 22 February 1990 at 23:17:00 UTC, Superbird-2 launch failed and the satellite was lost. Thus, Superbird-B1 was rushed and delivered in just 19 months. On 26 February 1992 at 23:58:10 UTC Superbird-B1, the fourth private communications satellite of Japan to orbit, 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

Arabsat-1C INSAT-2DT, previously Arabsat-1C and also known as INSAT-2R, was a Saudi Arabian and subsequently Indian communications satellite which was operated initially by Arab Satellite Communications Organization, Arabsat, and then by the Indian National S ...

. It was injected into a 222 km × 35,776 km × 7°

geosynchronous transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step f ...

(GTO), from which it climbed through three liquid apogee engine (LAE) firings.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1992 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the SSL 1300 bus Spacecraft launched in 1992 Communications satellites of Japan 1992 in Japan