| astronautix.com | Atlas IIA |
The Atlas II booster was 2.7-meters longer than an Atlas I and included uprated Rocketdyne MA-5A engines. The Atlas I vernier engines were replaced with a hydrazine roll control system. The Centaur stage was stretched 0.9-meters compared to the Centaur I stage. Fixed foam insulation replaced Atlas I's jettisonable insulation panels. Atlas IIA was a commercial derivative of the Atlas II developed for the US Air Force. Higher performance RL10A-4 (or RL10A-4-1) engines replaced Atlas II's RL10A-3-3A engines. RL10A-4 and RL10A-4-1 engines were offered with or without extendable nozzles (Extendible nozzles increased the engines specific impulse, providing additional performance if required). AC-105 / INTELSAT-K, launched 9 June 1992, inaugurated Atlas IIA series flights.
Launches: 19. Failures: 0. Success Rate: 100.00% pct. First Launch Date: 10 June 1992. Last Launch Date: 30 June 2000. LEO Payload: 7,280 kg. to: 185 km Orbit. at: 28.5 degrees. Payload: 3,039 kg. to a: Geosynchronous transfer trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 215,220 kgf. Total Mass: 187,700 kg. Core Diameter: 3.1 m. Total Length: 47.5 m. Launch Price $: 90.00 million. in 1994 price dollars.
Stationed at 21.5 deg W. Intelsat K is a single spacecraft purchased to meet critical requirements for Ku-band capacity over the Atlantic region, driven primarily by international broadcasters. The satellite was purchased from GE Americom while under construction (as Satcom K4) and required extensive payload modifications. Spacecraft: Based on GE 5000 series bus.3-axis stabilised using magnetotorquers. Hydrazine propulsion system. Two large solar panels with 1-axis articulation provide 4800 W BOL.4 50 Ahr NiH batteries. Payload: 16 Ku-band transponders which can be configured into 32 high quality television channels. Permits access from ground antennas 1.2 meters dia. and smaller. Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit with GCS trajectory option.
Commercial TV broadcast. Stationed at 100.79 deg W. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option.
34 Ku-band transponders for TV. Stationed at 37.48 deg W. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with IFR trajectory option.
Mobile communicaitons. Stationed at 101.1 deg W. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option.
Stationed at 95 deg W; 24 C-band, 24 Ku-band transponders; TV for Caribbean and Central America. Launch vehicle put payload into subsynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option.
Geostationary at 64.1E. Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit with RAAN Cntl trajectory option.
Geostationary at 103.0W. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with IFR/MRS trajectory option.
Geostationary at 13.0E. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with IFR/MRS trajectory option.
Geostationary at 157.6E. Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit with RAAN Cntl trajectory option.
Geosynchronous. Stationed over 118.7W Launch vehicle put payload into subsynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option.
Geosynchronous. Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit with GCS trajectory option.
US Air Force Academy experiment to demonstrate use of GPS navigation in geosynchronous orbit.
Classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Geostationary at 10.0 degrees E.
The orbit at burnout of the Centaur was 286 km x 25866 km x 27.0 degree. Modification of the orbit to a geostationary 38,300 km circular x 0.0 degree inclination was accomplished by the Marquardt R-4D liquid propellant motor on the HS-601 spacecraft. The satellite carried UHF and EHF transponders for naval communications, and a Ka-band Global Broadcast Service video relay package. Launch mass of 3200 kg dropped to 1550 kg once geostationary orbit is reached. UHF F/O F9 was placed over the Atlantic Ocean. Geostationary at 173.9 degrees W. Additional Details: UHF F/O F9.
UHF Follow-on satellite providing UHF and EHF communications, and Global Broadcast Service television for the US Navy. Stationed at 170 deg W.
Part of the US Air Force Defense Satellite Communications System. To be stationed in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean.
US civilian geostationary weather satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series. It was the first GOES launch on the Atlas II launch vehicle (the Atlas I having been phased out). Built by SS/Loral, based on the FS-1300 bus. It was equipped with one solar panel array and a counter-boom with a solar sail. The satellite carried well as an imaging radiometer and an X-ray detector to monitor solar activity. Stationed at 106 deg W.
First Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, using a Hughes HS 601 satellite bus. It included an S-band phased array antenna and two Ku/Ka band reflectors 4.6 meters in diameter. The satellite was launched into a a 167 x 577 km x 28.3 deg parking orbit at 13:05 GMT. The Centaur upper stage made a second burn at 13:21 GMT, releasing the satellite into a subsynchronous transfer orbit of 237 x 27,666 km x 27.0 deg. The satellite's own Primex/Marquardt R4D liquid apogee engine would be used to maneuver the satellite into its final geosynchronous orbit. Stationed at 151 deg W.