Intelsat 706 (also known as IS-706 and Intelsat 7-F6) is a
geostationary communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
that 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 cus ...
(SSL). It is located in the orbital position of 157 degrees east longitude and it is currently in an
inclined orbit
A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than 0° to the equatorial plane. This angle is called the orbit's inclination. A planet is said to have an inclined orbit around the Sun if it has an ...
. The same is owned by
Intelsat. The satellite was based on the LS-1300 platform and its estimated useful life was 15 years.
The satellite was successfully launched into space on May 17, 1995,
at 06:34, using an
Ariane 4
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 Ari ...
vehicle from 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 ...
,
Kourou
Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...
,
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...
.
It had a launch mass of 4,180 kg.
The Intelsat 706 is equipped with 26 transponders in
C band and 10 in
Ku band to provide broadcasting, business-to-home services and
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
. It was positioned over the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and has the transponder capacity to relay 110,000
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
calls simultaneously.
Specifications
* Payload power: 3612 W
* Power:
Equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...
: 5326 W,
Solstice
A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...
: 4884 W
* Stabilization: 3-axis
*
Solar array
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and ...
: 25.7 m span
* Propulsion: R-4D-11
Location in orbit
* 56° W (May 1995 - June 1995)
* 53° W (July 1995 - September 2004)
* 50.25° E (October 2004 - April 2009)
* 54.85° E (April 2009 - July 2010)
* 72.1° E (August 2010 - October 2011)
* 72.1° E inclined (October 2011 - August 2012)
* 157° E inclined (February 2013 - November 2014)
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 tran ...
* Mass of the transponders:
* Mass of the antennas:
;
C band
* Power: 10, 20 and 30 W
*
Bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
: 10 transponders of 36 MHz, 2 transponders of 41 MHz and 16 transponders of 72 MHz
*
EIRP
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
: Global beam (36 & 41 MHz): 29 dBW / Hemispheric beam (8x72 MHz & 2x36 MHz): 33 dBW / Zone beam (8x72 MHz & 2x36 MHz): 33 dBW / Spot beam (36 & 41 MHz): 36.1 dBW
Polarization: circular R/L
;
* Power: 5 transponders of 49 W and 5 transponders of 73 W
* Bandwidth: 6 transponders of 72 MHz and 8 transponders of 112 MHz
*
EIRP
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
: ''Spot 1'': 47 dBW, ''Spot 2'': 47 dBW and ''Spot 3'': 42.8 dBW
* Polarization: linear
* Frequency: Downlink 10.95 GHz - 11.20 GHz, 11.45 GHz - 11.70 GHz, 11.70 GHz - 11.95 GHz and 12.50 GHz - 12.75 GHz
See also
*
1995 in spaceflight
External links
Intelsat 706TBS satellite
Intelsat 706SatBeams
References
Spacecraft launched in 1995
Intelsat satellites
{{US-spacecraft-stub