TerreStar-1 is an American

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

TerreStar Corporation TerreStar Corporation (TSTR), formerly Motient Corp. (MNCP - 2000–2007) and ''American Mobile Satellite Corp.'' (AMSC - 1988–2000), was the controlling shareholder of ''TerreStar Networks Inc.'', ''TerreStar National Services, Inc.'' and ''Terr ...

. It was constructed by

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 ...

, based on the

LS-1300S 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 ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, and carries E/ F band (IEEE

S band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...

) transponders which will be used to provide mobile communications 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 ...

. The signals are transmitted by an reflector on the satellite. It had a launch mass of , making it the second most massive single satellite launched into a

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 ...

, and the second largest commercial communications satellite ever built. Its record as the most massive communication satellite was surpassed by

Telstar 19V Telstar 19V ''(Telstar 19 Vantage)'' is a communication satellite in the Telstar series of the Canadian satellite communications company Telesat. It was built by SSL (company), Space Systems Loral (MAXAR) and is based on the SSL 1300, SSL-1300 bu ...

launched on

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...

on July 21, 2018, with a mass of . TerreStar was launched at 17:52 GMT on July 1, 2009, during a two-hour

launch window In the context of spaceflight, launch period is the collection of days and launch window is the time period on a given day during which a particular rocket must be launched in order to reach its intended target. If the rocket is not launched wit ...

that opened at 16:13. The launch occurred towards the end of the window due to bad weather in the first hour, followed by two aborted countdowns for launch attempts scheduled at 17:12 and 17:34. The launch was conducted by

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...

, and used an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket, flying from

ELA-3 ELA-3 (french: Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3, lit=Ariane Launch Complex 3), is a launch pad and associated facilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana. ELA-3 is operated by Arianespace as part of the expendable launch system f ...

at the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

. After launch, the satellite separated from the carrier rocket into a

. It will subsequently raise itself into

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 ...

by means of its onboard propulsion system. It will be positioned at 111° 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 ...

, and is expected to operate for 15 years. A second satellite, TerreStar-2 (now

EchoStar XXI EchoStar XXI (formerly known as TerreStar 2) is a European communications satellite which is operated by Echostar Corporation. It was constructed by Space Systems/Loral, based on the SSL 1300 satellite bus, and carries S band transponders which ...

), is currently under construction and will be used as a ground spare per the Federal Communications Commission guidelines. Following TerreStar's filing for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy, a movement had been formed by the NGO

A Human Right A Human Right is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free basic internet and phone access to developing countries, and to citizens of countries whose government has cut off or restricted internet access. It was discontinued in 2016. ...

to purchase TerreStar-1 and to use it to provide free basic Internet access to developing countries. The team was looking for US$150,000 in donations to put the first phase of their plan into action. However, after successfully bidding $1.375 billion for the acquisition of the TerreStar-1 satellite in a bankruptcy-court auction

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

on August 22, 2011 asked the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

to let the company use the wireless spectrum of TerreStar to offer its own

wireless broadband Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband. The term broadband Originally the word "b ...

service.

References

External links

TerreStar Corporation

TerreStar NetworksBuy This Satellite ProjectA Human Right
{{Use American English, date=January 2014 Spacecraft launched in 2009 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit