Intelsat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Intelsat, Ltd. is the world’s largest commercial satellite communications services provider. On July 18, 2001, Intelsat became a private company, 37 years after being formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT), an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites (Intelsats) to provide international broadcast services. In the period prior to Intelsat's privatization in 2001, ownership and investment in INTELSAT (measured in shares) was distributed among INTELSAT members according to their respective use of services. Investment shares determined each member’s percentage of the total contribution needed to finance capital expenditures. The organization’s primary source of revenue came from satellite usage fees which, after deduction of operating costs, was redistributed to INTELSAT members in proportion to their shares as repayment of capital and compensation for use of capital. Satellite services were available to any organization (both INTELSAT members and non-members), and all users paid the same rates.
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[edit] History
The consortium began on August 20, 1964, with 11 participating countries. On April 6, 1965, Intelsat’s first satellite, the Intelsat I (nicknamed Early Bird), was placed in geostationary orbit above the Atlantic Ocean by a Delta D rocket.
In 1973, the name was changed and there were 80 signatories. Intelsat provides service to over 600 Earth stations in more than 149 countries, territories and dependencies. By 2001, INTELSAT had over 100 members. It was also in this year when INTELSAT privatized and its name changed to Intelsat.
Since its inception, Intelsat has used several versions (blocks) of its dedicated Intelsat satellites. INTELSAT competes each block of spacecraft independently, leading to a variety of contractors over the years. Intelsat’s largest spacecraft supplier is Space Systems/Loral, having built 31 spacecraft (as of 2003), or nearly half of the fleet.
The network in its early years was not as robust as it is now. A failure of the Atlantic satellite in the spring of 1969 threatened to stop the Apollo 11 mission; a replacement satellite fired into orbit went into a bad orbit and could not be recovered in time to use; NASA had to resort to using undersea cable telephone circuits to bring Apollo's communications to NASA during the mission.[1] Fortunately, during the Apollo 11 moonwalk, the moon was over the Pacific Ocean, and so other antennas were used, as well as INTELSAT III, which was in geostationary orbit of the Pacific.[2]
Today, the number of Intelsat satellites, as well as ocean-spanning fibre-optic lines, allows rapid rerouting of traffic when one satellite fails. Also, modern satellites are themselves more robust, lasting several more years, with much larger capacity.
[edit] Current operation
Intelsat was sold for U.S. $3.1bn in January 2005 to four private equity firms: Madison Dearborn Partners, Apax Partners, Permira and Apollo Management. The company acquired PanAmSat on July 3, 2006, and is now the world's largest provider of fixed satellite services, operating a fleet of 51 satellites in prime orbital locations. Intelsat maintains it corporate headquarters in Bermuda, with a majority of staff and satellite functions — administrative headquarters — located at the Intelsat Global Services Corporation offices in Washington, DC. A highly international business, Intelsat sources the majority of its revenue from non-U.S. located customers.
Spacecraft operations are controlled through ground stations in Clarksburg, Maryland (USA), Hagerstown, Maryland (USA), Riverside, California (USA), and Fuchsstadt, Germany [1].
Intelsat was operating Intelsat Americas-7 until it was lost on 29 November 2004 [2].
[edit] Renaming
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This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
Intelsat is changing the names of 16 of its satellites, cf. this table at the Intelsat website.
[edit] See also
- Eutelsat
- Inmarsat
- Intersputnik
- Intelsat Americas
- SES Global
[edit] External links
[edit] Data
[edit] References
- ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specifiedDonald E. Kimberlin (June 1, 1994). . Retrieved on September 22, 2006.
- ^ On Eagle's Wings: The Parkes Observatory's Support of the Apollo 11 Mission (PDF). Astronomical Society of Australia (July 1, 2001). Retrieved on September 22, 2006.
