Fleet Satellite Communications System
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FLTSATCOM (also FLTSAT) was a satellite communication system of the U.S. Navy which was used for UHF radio communications between ships, submarines, airplanes and ground stations of the U.S. Navy.
Altogether eight satellites were launched in the years from 1978 to 1989 by Atlas Centaur rockets into the geostationary orbit. The system became operational in 1981. The satellites were manufactured by TRW. The mass amounted on the first six satellites was 1884 kg and the remaining three were 2310 kg. The solar cells the satellites had a span of over 13.2 m. A special characteristic was an antenna reflector 4.9 m in diameter. The satellites had 12 transponders, which worked in the UHF range around 300 megahertz. Additionally FLTSATCOM 6 and 7 had also an experimental transponder in the EHF range.
In the late 1990s FLTSATCOM satellites were gradually replaced by the UFO satellites.
[edit] Launches
| Satellite | Launch | Rocket | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLTSATCOM 1 | February 9, 1978 | Atlas-SLV3D Centaur-D1AR | Success |
| FLTSATCOM 2 | May 4, 1979 | Atlas-SLV3D Centaur-D1AR | Success |
| FLTSATCOM 3 | January 18, 1980 | Atlas-SLV3D Centaur-D1AR | Success |
| FLTSATCOM 4 | 31. October 31, 1980 | Atlas-SLV3D Centaur-D1AR | Success |
| FLTSATCOM 5 | August 6, 1981 | Atlas-SLV3D Centaur-D1AR | Damaged upon launch |
| FLTSATCOM 7 | December 5, 1986 | Atlas-G Centaur-D1AR | Success |
| FLTSATCOM 6 | March 27, 1987 | Atlas-G Centaur-D1AR | Lightning strike destroyed the rocket |
| FLTSATCOM 8 | September 25, 1989 | Atlas-G Centaur-D1AR | Success |
