Satcom (satellite)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "Satcom" is also an acronym of, and generic term for, satellite communications.
The Satcom series was a family of communications satellites originally developed and operated by the RCA American Communications (RCA Americom). Satcom was one of the first geostationary satellites. The first satellite, Satcom 1 was launched on December 13, 1975. The last satellite, Satcom K2, was placed into orbit on November 27, 1985 and was de-orbited in February 2002. Satcom was first superseded and then replaced by the GE series of satellites.
The Satcom system passed to General Electric with its purchase of RCA in 1986. RCA Americom became GE American Communications (GE Americom) and the satellite construction division became GE Astro Space. GE Astro Space was sold to Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin Space Systems) in 1993. In 2001 GE sold GE Americom to SES Global, creating SES Americom.
[edit] History
Most early commercial communications satellites were built for and operated by telecoms companies. RCA, with its own RCA Astro Electronics satellite construction business, identified a role for itself as a satellite owner/operator.
Satcom 1 was used as the launching ground for many cable TV services including TBS Superstation and the ABC Family channel (then the CBN Cable Network). The Weather Channel also was launched on Satcom 1 in 1982. A notable legal battle involved Ted Turner suing RCA to get a Satcom 1 transponder in 1980 for the launch of CNN on June 1, 1980. CNN had been scheduled for a Satcom 3 transponder but that satellite had been destroyed upon launch on December 7, 1979.
Satcom was the first satellite used by broadcast TV networks in the United States, like ABC, NBC, and CBS, to distribute their programming to all of their local affiliate stations. The reason that Satcom 1 was so widely used is that it had twice the communications capacity of the competing Westar 1 (24 transponders as opposed to Westar 1’s 12), which resulted in lower transponder usage costs.
The domestic communication satellite spurred the cable television industry to unprecedented heights with the assistance of a company known as Home Box Office (HBO). Cable television networks relay signals to ground-based stations using satellites. This allowed cable television to enter into the suburban and metropolitan markets, thus allowing HBO to accumulate 1.6 million subscribers by the end of 1977.
[edit] Satellite details
| Model | Manufacturer | Launch date | Launch vehicle | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satcom 1 | RCA Astro Electronics | December 12, 1975 | Delta 3000 | |
| Satcom 2 | RCA Astro Electronics | March 26, 1976 | Delta 3000 | |
| Satcom 3 | RCA Astro Electronics | December 7, 1979 | Delta 3000 | Failure during GTO, destroyed |
| Satcom 1R | RCA Astro Electronics | April 11, 1983 | Delta 3000 | Replaced Satcom 1 |
| Satcom 2R | RCA Astro Electronics | September 8, 1983 | Delta 3000 | |
| Satcom 3R | RCA Astro Electronics | November 20, 1981 | Delta 3000 | Replaced destroyed Satcom 3 |
| Satcom 4 | RCA Astro Electronics | January 16, 1982 | Delta 3000 | |
| Satcom 5 | RCA Astro Electronics | October 28, 1982 | Delta 3000 | Aurora 1, still on 105.2'W (2006) [1] |
| Satcom 4R | Hughes | November 8, 1984 | STS-51-A (Discovery) | |
| Satcom C1 | GE Astro Space | November 20, 1990 | Ariane 42P | Replaced Satcom 1R |
| Satcom C3 | GE Astro Space | September 11, 1992 | Ariane 44LP | |
| Satcom C4 | GE Astro Space | August 21, 1992 | Delta 7000 | |
| Satcom C5 | GE Astro Space | May 29, 1991 | Delta 7000 | |
| Satcom K1 | RCA Astro Electronics | January 12, 1986 | STS-61-C (Columbia) | |
| Satcom K2 | RCA Astro Electronics | November 27, 1985 | STS-61-B (Atlantis) | |
| Satcom K3 | GE Astro Space | March 2, 1991 | Ariane 44LP | Sold during construction to SES |
| Satcom K4 | GE Astro Space | June 9, 1992 | Atlas 2 | Sold during construction to Intelsat |
