Galaxy 26 is 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 ...

owned by

Intelsat 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 ...

. It was built 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 ...

, as part of its 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- ...

. Galaxy 26 was formerly known as Intelsat Americas 6 and Telstar 6. It was launched aboard a

Proton-K The Proton-K, also designated Proton 8K82K after its GRAU index or SL-12 after its model number, 8K82K, was a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 an ...

/ DM-03 from

Baikonur Cosmodrome ''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur'' , image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg , caption = The Baikonur Cosmodrome's "Gagarin's Start" Soyuz ...

, Site 81/23. It spent most of its operational life at the 93° 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 let ...

orbital position, serving the

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 th ...

n market. Clients included ABC, CBS, CNN and FOX.

The ailing bird

Galaxy 26, known as Telstar 6 at the time, had its share of problems since its 15 February 1999 launch. It had lost a backup command and control receiver, the back up computer, and had completely shut off twice. The satellite first shut down on 22 April 2001 causing the Fox network to relocate feeds to Telstar 5 at 97° West. Then on 11 April 2002 it shut down again and went into a very slow spin. On 29 June 2008, Galaxy 26 had a power failure in one of its solar panels. It lost 15 kilowatts out of a possible 37 kilowatt capacity, which is very important for charging the batteries. Also, there were multiple transponder failures. Several cable television networks immediately took action to move their feeds to backup satellites in order to keep themselves on air in the event of total failure. Fox News moved operations to Galaxy 16 transponders 7, 9, and 11, and to AMC-5 transponder 4K Slot F according to a

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

internal email. Within a week, CBS had moved all main feeds to Galaxy 25, and all secondary feeds to Galaxy 28, according to an internal email. In February 2009, following an urgent call from the Pentagon's Joint staff, Intelsat moved the satellite to the 50.8° East orbital position for use by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

for

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...

support. This repositioning of the Galaxy-26, which could be reached by U.S. drone operators by using the relay station at

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and als ...

, facilitated the rapid expansion of the U.S. drone program.

End of mission

Galaxy 26 was officially decommissioned on 7 June 2014. The satellite was originally scheduled for decommissioning around 15 March 2014, but that date was extended following delays in the launch of two replacement satellites.

References

External links

* Gunter's Space Page - information o
Galaxy 26
* * {{Orbital launches in 1999 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellite television Spacecraft launched in 1999 Spacecraft decommissioned in 2014 Satellites using the SSL 1300 bus