This page no longer updated from 31 October 2001. Latest version can be found at www.astronautix.com
Class: Communications. Nation: Arab States. Agency: Arabsat. Manufacturer: Aerospatiale.
SpecificationTotal Mass: 2,760 kg.
Spacebus 3000 Chronology
09 July 1996
Arabsat 2A Program: Arabsat. Launch Site: Kourou . Launch Vehicle: Ariane 44L. Perigee: 35,779 km. Apogee: 35,794 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. 22 Ku band and 12 C band transponders.
13 November 1996
Arabsat 2B Program: Arabsat. Launch Site: Kourou . Launch Vehicle: Ariane 44L. Perigee: 35,785 km. Apogee: 35,788 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. Geostationary at 21.9E.
16 April 1997
Thaicom 3 Program: Thaicom. Launch Site: Kourou . Launch Vehicle: Ariane 44LP . Perigee: 35,762 km. Apogee: 35,810 km. Inclination: 0.1 deg. Geosynchronous. Stationed over 78.5E
11 November 1997
Sirius 2 Program: Sirius. Launch Site: Kourou . Launch Vehicle: Ariane 44L. Perigee: 35,781 km. Apogee: 35,791 km. Inclination: 0.1 deg. Geosynchronous. Stationed over 4.8E
18 July 1998
Sinosat Program: Sinosat. Launch Site: Xichang . Launch Vehicle: CZ-3B. Mass: 2,820 kg. Perigee: 35,779 km. Apogee: 35,795 km. Inclination: 0.1 deg. The CZ-3B's liquid hydrogen upper stage and the Sinosat were placed in a 609 x 35958 km x 19.0 deg geostationary transfer orbit at 09:45 GMT. The first two liquid apogee burns were carried out on July 19 and 21. Sinosat, Alcatel Spacebus 3000, was built in Cannes and owned temporarily by EurasSpace, a joint venture between Daimler-Benz Aerospace and the China Aerospace Corporation. After on-orbit testing it was delivered to the Sino Satellite Communications Company of Shanghai for communications services in China. Geostationary at 110.5 degrees E.
05 October 1998
Eutelsat W2 Program: Eutelsat. Launch Site: Kourou . Launch Vehicle: Ariane 44L. Perigee: 35,779 km. Apogee: 35,791 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. Geostationary at 16.0 degrees E.
26 February 1999
Arabsat 3A Program: Arabsat. Launch Site: Kourou . Launch Vehicle: Ariane 44L. Mass: 2,708 kg. Perigee: 35,755 km. Apogee: 35,814 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. The Arab League satellite had 20 Ku-band transponders and was to be stationed at 26 degrees East. Dry mass was 1200 kg.
12 April 1999
Eutelsat W3 Program: Eutelsat. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas IIAS. Perigee: 35,774 km. Apogee: 35,797 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. Communications satellite is for the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization. The vehicle entered a 153 km x 385 km x 27.4 deg parking orbit nine minutes after launch. The second Centaur stage burn delivered the satellite to a 166 km x 46,076 km x 19.7 deg super-synchronous transfer orbit. The satellite was stationed at 7 deg E and carried 24 Ku-band transponders with a wide beam covering Europe, North Africa and Asia, and a spot beam for digital TV to Turkey.
03 February 2000
Hispasat 1C Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas IIAS. Perigee: 35,774 km. Apogee: 35,800 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. Spanish domestic geosynchronous communications satellite. Stationed at 30 deg W.
24 May 2000
Eutelsat W4 Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas IIIA. Perigee: 35,775 km. Apogee: 35,797 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg. European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat) satellite equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders, and antennae covering Russia and Africa. It will be stationed at 36 deg E. This was the third of the high power Eutelsat W series to be launched (W1 was destroyed in a ground accident). Stationed at 36 deg E.
Bibliography:- 4 - McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Report (Internet Newsletter), Harvard University, Weekly, 1989 to Present. HTML when accessed: ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
Back to Index
Last update 12 March 2001.
Contact Mark Wade with any corrections or comments.
Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
© Mark Wade, 2001 .