VeneSat-1, also known as Simón Bolívar (after Venezuelan independence fighter

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

), was the first

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n satellite. It was designed, built and launched by the CGWIC subsidiary of the

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has subsidiaries which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic ...

. It was a

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 ...

operating from a

geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

. It was launched on a Chinese

Long March 3B The Long March 3B (, ''Chang Zheng 3B''), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocke ...

carrier rocket A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

from

Xichang Satellite Launch Center The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (), approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. The facility beca ...

Launch Complex 2 on 29 October 2008 at 16:53 UTC.

Overview

VeneSat-1 was operated by Venezuela's

Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities The Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (''Agencia Bolivariana para Actividades Espaciales'', ABAE) is an agency of the Ministry of Science of Venezuela, responsible for developing and carrying out policies of the National Executive Venezuela ...

(ABAE). The satellite was built on the Chinese

DFH-4 Dongfanghong () was a satellite program of the People's Republic of China. The program started in August 1965 as Project 651—a less ambitious successor to the earlier Project 581—with the goal of launching a satellite heavier than both Sputni ...

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 had a mass of and an expected service life of 15 years. It had a payload of 14 C-band, 12 K_u-band, and 2 K_a-band transponders. The satellite occupied an orbital slot of 78° West, designated for Uruguay and ceded to Venezuela by mutual accord. The satellite provided television broadcasting and broadband connectivity services. Since 13 March 2020, VeneSat-1 has been out of service after a series of maneuvers left it tumbling and drifting away from its assigned orbital position. ''Seradata'' reported that the satellite lost both of its solar array drives between February and March 2020, leading to a loss of power for the spacecraft. The operator attempted to perform an emergency move of the spacecraft to a graveyard orbit, but evidently, only the apogee engine burn was successful while the perigee burn failed. It is suggested that the spacecraft may have run out of power during the perigee attempt, or that it may have exhausted its fuel supply. , VeneSat-1 was in an elliptical orbit of approximately , which placed its perigee approximately above the normal geosynchronous orbit. It had also drifted west by 30°. On 24 March 2020, the Venezuelan government switched the majority of the functions of VeneSat-1 to the American

Intelsat 14 Intelsat 14 is a communications satellite owned by Intelsat located at 45° West longitude, serving the Americas, Europe, and African markets. Intelsat 14 replaced Intelsat 1R which was at the end of its design life. It was built by Sp ...

. The following day, Venezuela's Ministry of Science and Technology declared that the satellite had been lost and its mission ended. VeneSat-1 failed three years before its expected end of life.

References

External links

VeneSat-1
at

{{Orbital launches in 2008 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellite television Telecommunications in Venezuela Telecommunications in the Caribbean Telecommunications in South America First artificial satellites of a country Satellites of Venezuela China–Venezuela relations Satellites using the DFH-4 bus Spacecraft launched by Long March rockets 2008 in Venezuela Spacecraft launched in 2008 Spacecraft decommissioned in 2020 Derelict satellites orbiting Earth

Overview

See also

References

External links