Spacebus

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Spacebus
Organization Thales Alenia Space
Mission type A platform for Communication satellite in geostationary orbit 62 orders, 47 launched
Launch date Since 1985
Launch vehicle All types of commercial launch vehicles
Mission duration up to 15 years
Mass from 1.1 ton to more than 5 tons
Power up to 16 kW

Spacebus is the name given to a family of geostationary telecommunications satellites developed starting in the 1980s by Aerospatiale, now Thales Alenia Space, in its Cannes Mandelieu Space Center.

They can be equipped with different payloads, but they are most often used as communications satellites. Their typical orbit around Earth is geostationary.

Contents

[edit] History

During that period, Aerospatiale was allied with the German company Messerschmitt (MBB) for the manufacture of satellites, among which was the Franco-German Symphonie program. After an in-house brainstorming within the two firms, it was Guy Lebègue, an engineer in the marketing department of Aerospatiale/Satellites, who invented the Spacebus name, with reference to the aeronautic program Airbus. The name is trademarked.

A franco-German Spacebus agreement was signed, on December 9, 1983 between Henri Martre, Aerospatiale's CEO and Hans Vogels, the MBB's President. The trademark was registered.

The Spacebus name becomes a product. Many dozens of them were built and sold on the export market, bringing a lot of curencies to the countries of the participating firms, increasing their Balance of trade as regard of the price of a Spacebus, close to the Airbus A 320 price.

A number follows the name representing the weight class of the satellites. 1000 for the metric ton, 2000, etc.

The name Spacebus was also given to satellites which were being manufactured while the trademark was being registered, although they have a different architecture (but not the Symphonie satellites which had already been launched several years before, and are not therefore in the Spacebus family.

  • Spacebus100for the first generation Arabsat satellites
  • Spacebus 300 for the direct television satellites in the Franco-German program, and the Swedish Tele-X program.

[edit] Architecture

Main article: Service module

A satellite is generally composed of two sections: the payload, which is specific to the mission (telecommunications, Earth observation, navigation, science, etc.) and the platform (or service module) which provides the payload with all the necessary functions.

The idea was to develop a generic platform able to adapt itself to various future missions and to the evolutions in the capacity of launch vehicles in order to reduce manufacturing costs and if possible to create a series effect.

And in fact, more than sixty Spacebuses have been built, since the SB1000 Arabsat satellites in the one-ton class in 1981 up to the SB4000, weighing more than four tons, of the years 2000.

The architecture of the platform is based on:

  • A modular design with separate U-shaped payload module, allowing parallel integration between Aerospatiale for the Service Module and a telecom equipment manufacturer for the Communication Payload, followed by the final mating, and test in the Cannes Space Center.
  • A central tube in composite material made of a composite honeycomb and carbon fibre sandwich, acting as the satellite’s spinal column, interfacing with the launcher, housing two fuel tanks. Several panels are attached to it caring equipment for servicing. Also attached are three panels carrying the telecommunications payload equipment, two of which (in honeycomb sandwich with aluminium sides to let calories pass through) will act as thermal radiators allowing the heat generated by the payload to dissipate into the cold of space by radiation. At the beginning, these elements were produced in the Les Mureaux centre of Aerospatiale. After the separation of its satellite activity, the space centre in Cannes Mandelieu took over the manufacture of these elements in composite materials, and in particular, the production of the all the plane structures. The central tube, requiring very special tooling remained in Les Mureaux, which had become EADS. A second source is SAAB in Sweden.
  • A thermal control system necessitating very sophisticated computation programs and technologies which were developed in Cannes: dissipating radiators, super insulation, electric heaters, heat pipes.
  • Rigid solar cells arrays, with various combinations of panels depending on the electrical power requirements
  • An electric architecture developed by ETCA in Belgium, with batteries of evolving technology from Nickel-Hydrogen to Lithium-Ion.
  • Chemical propulsion based on bi-propellant technology developed by MBB in Germany. The electric propulsion was also studied, developed and introduced for two satellites: Stentor and Astra-1K, both of which were unfortunately lost during launch.
  • A three-axis attitude and orbit control system developed initially by MBB.
  • Various mechanisms for opening solar arrays and antennas developed and built in Cannes.

[edit] The Versions

The Spacebus evolution towards heavier satellites followed the capacity of launchers from Ariane 1 to Ariane 5. But it should be noted that Spacebuses have always been designed to adapt to all available launchers on the commercial market: not only the various versions of Ariane, but also Thor Delta, Atlas rocket, Soyuz, Proton, Long March and even exceptionally for launch by the Space Shuttle Discovery for one of the Arabsat satellites launched on the STS-51-G mission. These versions will be declined in the following charts. The tables show the “end of mission” meaning the end of operational use; after which, the satellite is often uncontrolled, perhaps slightly de-orbited (a manoeuvre strongly recommended by the satellite operator), and will drift for eternity, its “end of life” not signifying very much. Please also note that certain satellites have changed operators, either before launch or during their orbital life. They can even in this case change their orbital position.

[edit] Spacebus 100

This was, in 1981, the first appearance of the definitive architecture with the production of the first three Arabsat-1 satellites for the 22 members of the Arab League and its Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), with 2 KW of electrical power. Later on during the programme, the name Spacebus 1000 may be used, to allow more easy comparison with the Spacebus 2000 satellites.

Launchers
The Spacebus 100’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 May 25, 1981 Arabsat-1A Arabsat 1170 25C + 2S Ariane 3 V12 February 2, 1985 1991
2 May 25, 1981 Arabsat-1B Arabsat 1270 25C + 2S Space Shuttle June 17, 1985 oct 1992
3 May 25, 1981 Arabsat-1C Arabsat 1360 25C + 2S Ariane 44L V49 February 26, 1992 1997 sold 1997-> Insat 2DT

[edit] Spacebus 300

As mentioned in the history chapter, this name was given to five direct-to-home television satellites, with 4.3 KW of electrical power, in the Franco-German program:

Launchers

Both were launched using Ariane (rocket)

  • Ariane 2, in single launch
  • Ariane 4, in dual launch.
The Spacebus 300’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 July 14, 1982 TVSAT-1 Deutsche Bundespost 2077 5 Ku 230W Ariane 2 V20 November 21, 1987 No mission satellite failure when launched
2 July 14, 1982 TDF-1 TDF 2136 5 Ku 230W Ariane 2 V26 October 28, 1988 fin 1995
3 October 10, 1983 Tele-X SSC 2142 5 Ku 230W Ariane 2 V30 April 2, 1989 mid-1996
4 July 14, 1982 TVSAT-2 Deutsche Bundespost 2130 5 Ku 230W Ariane 44LP V33 August 8, 1989 mid-1996
5 September 9, 1985 TDF-2 TDF 2096 5 Ku 230W Ariane 44L V37 July 24, 1990 mid-1997 Launched with DFS2

[edit] Spacebus 2000

The architecture evolves upwards with the availability of the new Ariane 4 launcher. Electrical power supply is 3.5 KW.

The customers diversify.

  • Eutelsat. It becomes the first customer of the Spacebus family, ordering 6 satellites.
  • Nahuelsat, an Argentinean company of which SES became a shareholder.
  • Türk Telekom and its series of Turksats for Turkey, delivered on a turnkey basis.
  • GE Americom which takes over the Nahuel 1B satellite which becomes GE-5 for the United States and which became AMC 5 when taken over by SES.

GE-5 is the First European satellite saled to USA.

Launchers
  • Ten amnong eleven of these satellites were launched by Ariane 4, but unfortunately two of them were lost due to a launch failure of V63 on 1994-01-24. But especially, the Spacebuses become the number one customers of Arianespace.
  • A new launcher is used: Atlas (missile).
The Spacebus 2000’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 May 6, 1986 Eutelsat II-F1 Eutelsat 1878 16 Ku Ariane 44LP V38 August 30, 1990 1998 48°E
2 May 6, 1986 Eutelsat II-F2 Eutelsat 1878 16 Ku Ariane 44L V41 January 15, 1991 2001 12,5°W
3 May 6, 1986 Eutelsat II-F3 Eutelsat 1674 16 Ku Atlas December 7, 1991 1998 21,5°E
4 June 13, 1986 Eutelsat II-F4 Eutelsat 1877 16 Ku Ariane 44L V51 July 9, 1992 1999 28,5°E
5 1989 Eutelsat II-F5 Eutelsat 1880 16 Ku Ariane 44L V63 January 24, 1994 - Image:Boom.gifLaunch Failure
6 1990 Turksat 1A Türk Telekom 1783 16 Ku Ariane 44LP V63 January 24, 1994 - Image:Boom.gifLaunch Failure
7 1990 Turksat 1B Türksat AS 1418 16 Ku Ariane 44LP V66 August 10, 1994 2006 31.3°E
8 1990 Hotbird-1 Eutelsat 1800 16 Ku Ariane 44LP V71 March 28, 1995 1999 Ex Eutelsat II-F6
9 - Turksat 1C Türksat AS 1743 22Ku + 12C Ariane 44L V89 July 9, 1996 2008 42°E launched with Arabsat-2A
10 - Nahuel-1A Nahuelsat 1700 18 Ku Ariane 44L V93 January 31, 1997 - 72°W
11 - GE5 GE Americom 1721 16 Ku Ariane 44L V113 October 28, 1998 - 79°W > ex Nahuel-1B > then AMC5

[edit] Spacebus 3000

In the advent of Ariane 5 launches the Spacebus 3000 appears with masses between 2 and 6 metric tons and electrical power supply of 5 to 16 KW. It is declined into several versions profiting from the ever larger payload fairings.

In 1991 the cooperation was further extended with the creation of "Satellite Alliance" which brought in three partners: Alcatel Espace, Alenia and Space Systems/Loral.

[edit] Spacebus 3000A

First version developed for the second generation for Arabsat. It was adopted by two new customers:

  • Shinawatra private customer from Thailand and its Thaicom satellites, the first Spacebus to cover Asia, becoming Thailand's Shin Satellite Ltd for the Thaicom 5
  • Sinosat for China and the satellite Sinosat-1. The customer is EuraSpace, a common 50/50 subsidiary between DASA and China Aerospace Corporation (CASC).
Launchers
  • Always Ariane 4
  • A first launch with Ariane 5: Thaïcom 5.
  • A new launcher is used for Sinosat: the Chinese Long March Rocket.
The Spacebus 3000A’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 April 17, 1993 Arabsat-2A Arabsat 2500 22C + 12Ku Ariane 44L V89 July 9, 1996 - 26°E Launched with Turksat-1C
2 April 17, 1993 Arabsat-2B Arabsat 2500 22C + 12Ku Ariane 44L V92 November 13, 1996 - 30,5°E
3 January 16, 1995 Thaicom 3 Shinawatra 2650 25 C + 14 Ku Ariane 44LP V95 April 16 1997 October 2, 2006 78°E
4 0ctober, 1995 Sinosat-1 EuraSpace 2820 24C + 14Ku LM-3B July 18, 1998 - 110.5°W name changed to Xinnuo-1
5 - Thaicom 5 Shin Satellite Ltd 2766 25 C + 14 Ku Ariane 5 ECA May 27, 2006 - ex Thaicom 4, Agrani 2

[edit] Spacebus 3000B2

For the B version, the dimensions of the satellite base are 2.3 x 1.8 meters. For the version B2, the height of the platform is 2.8 meters enabling a radiating surface and electrical power supply accommodating up to 6.5 kW.

New customers:

Launchers
  • Always a majority of Ariane 4
  • Tree new Atlas
  • One Ariane 5
  • A new launcher is used: Delta IV rocket
The Spacebus 3000B2’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 July 5, 1995 Sirius 2 NSAB 2930 32 Ku Ariane 44L V102 November 12, 1997 - 4,8°E
2 July 10, 1995 Eutelsat W2 Eutelsat 2950 34 Ku Ariane 44L V111 October 5, 1998 - 16°E
3 November 8, 1997 Arabsat-3A Arabsat 2708 18Ku Ariane 44L V116 February 2, 1999 - 26°E > Badr 3
4 July 10, 1995 Eutelsat W6 Eutelsat 3183 - Atlas-2AS April 12, 1999 - 21,5°E Ex Eutelsat W3
5 1997 HISPASAT-1C Hispasat 3113 - Atlas-2AS February 3, 2000 - 30°W
6 July 10, 1995 Eutelsat W4 Eutelsat 2950 - Atlas-3A May 24, 2000 - 36°E
7 - Eurobird 1 Eutelsat 3050 24 Ku Ariane 5 V140 March 8, 2001 - 28°E - Ex W1
8 - Atlantic Bird 2 Eutelsat 3150 26 Ku Ariane 44P V144 September 9, 2001 - 8°W
9 - HISPASAT-1D Hispasat 3288 28 Ku Atlas-2AS September 18, 2002 - 30°W
10 - Eutelsat W5 Eutelsat 3170 24 Ku Delta IV November 20, 2002 - 78,5°E
11 September 4, 2006 SatcomBw-2a Bundeswehr 2500 UHF + SHF - - -
12 September 4, 2006 SatcomBw-2b Bundeswehr 2500 UHF + SHF - - -

[edit] Spacebus 3000B3

For this category, the height of the satellite body is 3.7 meters, allowing for 8.5 kW of electrical power. Six new customers:

Launchers
The Spacebus 3000B3’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 - Turksat 2A Türksat AS 3525 34 Ku Ariane 44P V137 January 10, 2001 - 42°E - = Eurasiasat 1
2 - Atlantic Bird 3 Stellat 4100 35Ku + 10C Ariane 5 ECA July 5, 2002 - 5°W ex Stella 5
3 - Hot Bird 6 Eutelsat 3905 28 Ku + 4 Ka Atlas 5 August 21, 2002 - TVD 13°E
4 - Stentor CNES 2080 6Ku + 1EHF Ariane 5 December 11, 2002 - Image:Boom.gifLauncher failure
5 - AMC 9 SES Americom 4100 24C + 24Ku Proton-K Briz-M June 6, 2003 - 79°W ex GE 12
6 July 2003 Hot Bird 7A Eutelsat 4100 38 Ku Ariane 5 ECA March 11, 2006 - TVD 13°E
7 - Galaxy 17 PanAmSat 4100 24Ku + 24C Ariane 5 May 5, 2007 - 74°W
8 June, 2003 Star One C1 Brazilsat 4100 28C + 16Ku + 1X Ariane 5 November 14, 2007 - 65°W =Simon Bolivar 1
9 January, 2005 Star One C2 Brazilsat 4100 28C + 16Ku + 1X Ariane 5 April 18, 2008 - 70°W =Simon Bolivar 2

[edit] Spacebus 3000B3S

A new customer: SES Astra in Luxembourg. A single satellite in this class: Astra 1K. At the time it was this biggest commercial communications satellite ever built with an electric power supply of 13 kW. Unfortunately it was lost at launch due to a failure of the Proton rocket.

The Spacebus 3000B3’s
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 1997 Aatra-1K SES Astra 5250 52Ku + 3Ka Proton November 25, 2002 - Image:Boom.gifLaunch failure

[edit] Spacebus 4000

The 4000 family appears with mainly a modification to the avionics (Avionics 4000):

  • Electrical architecture of the platform goes from 50 to 100 Volts
  • On-board computer is very integrated, flexible and modular
  • Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS)with Star-tracker for use in geostationary orbit (a world first).

The family is declined like the B series according to the height of the satellite in 4000B2, 4000B3. And a new C version appears whose basic dimensions are 2.2 x 2.0 meters.

[edit] Spacebus 4000B2

Two new customers:

The Spacebus 4000B2’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 February 23, 2006 Türksat-3A Turksat AS 3060 24 Ku Ariane 5 Scheduled May 2008 (already in CSG) - 42°E
2 April 24, 2007 Thor 6 Telenor 3000 36 Ku Ariane 5 Mid-2009 - 1°W
3 June 3, 2008 Nilesat-201 Nilesat 3200 24 Ku + 4 Ka Ariane 5 2010 - 7°W

[edit] Spacebus 4000B3

For the B3 version, the height of the satellite is 3.7 meters with a power supply of 8.5 kW. Three new customers:

Launchers
  • Four among the five satellites are, or will be, launched by Ariane 5
  • Palapa will be launched by Long March.
The Spacebus 4000B3’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 - Syracuse-3A DGA 3725 SHF + EHF Ariane 5 October 13, 2005 - 47°E
2 - Syracuse-3B DGA 3725 SHF + EHF Ariane 5 August 10, 2006 - 5.2°W
3 - Rascom-QAF1 RascomStar-QAF 3200 8C + 12Ku Ariane 5 December 21, 2007 - 2.85°E
4 June 29, 2007 Palapa-D PT Indosat Tbk 4100 24+11C + 5Ku LM-3B End 2009 - 113°E

[edit] Spacebus 4000C1

For the C1, the height is 4 meters and the electrical power supply is 8.5 kW.

A new customer: Korea Telecom, for South Korea.

A new type of launcher is used: Zenit rocket on the mobile launch base on the equator, Sea Launch.

The Spacebus 4000C1’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 - Koreasat-5 Korea Telecom 4465 - Zenit 3SL August 22, 2006 -

[edit] Spacebus 4000C2

With a height of 4.5 meters, the power installed is 10.5 kW.

Three new Chinese customers ordered this version:

  • APT Satellite Company Ltd, Hong Kong, China
  • Chinasat, China Satellite Communication Corporation, Beijing, China, operated by China's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications
  • China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation (Chinasat, Zhongxing).
Launchers

For all these satellites dedicated to broadcasting over China, it's the Long March launcher which is used.

The Spacebus 4000C2’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 - APStar 6 APT Satellite Company Ltd 4680 38C + 12Ku CZ-3B April 12, 2005 - 134°E - ex APStar 5B
2 June 11, 2004 Chinasat 9 Chinasat 4500 22 Ku CZ-3B Scheduled June, 2008 - Zhongxing 9, ZX 9
3 December 6, 2005 Chinasat 6B ChinaSatcom 4600 38 C CZ-3B July 5, 2007 -

[edit] Spacebus 4000C3

With a height of 5.1 meters, this family can carry 13 kW of solar arrays.

Two customers already identified:

  • SES Americom with two AMC satellites, which were launched using Proton
  • Eutelsat with a W3B, ordered[4] on Fébruary 26, 2008
The Spacebus 4000C3’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 - AMC 12 SES Americom 4979 72 C Proton-K Briz-M February 3, 2005 - 37,5°W ex GE1i, Astra 4A, Star One C1, now Worldsat-2
2 - AMC 23 SES Americom 4981 18C + 20Ku Proton-K Briz-M December 29, 2005 - ex GE 2i, Worldsat 3, 172,0°E
3 February 26, 2008 Eutelsat W3B Eutelsat 5400 3Ka + 53Ku 2010 7°E

[edit] Spacebus 4000C4

With a height of 5.5 meters, this family can receive 16 kW of solar arrays.

A new customer : Ciel Satellite, in Canada.

Launchers
The Spacebus 4000C4’s listed in chronological order of launching
N° Contract Date Satellite Customer Mass (kg) Payload Launcher Launch End of mission Comment
1 March, 2006 Ciel 2 Ciel Satellite 5575 32 Ku Proton-K Briz-M Beginning of 2009 - 129°W
2 September, 2006 Eutelsat-W2A Eutelsat 5700 46Ku + 10C + S Zenit 3SL 2009 - 10°E
3 December 21, 2006 Eutelsat-W7 Eutelsat 5600 70 Ku Zenit 3SL 2009 - 36°E

[edit] Express-4000

On December 6, 2007, Thales Alenia Space and the Russian company NPO PM, in Krasnoyarsk, signed[5] an industrial agreement for the development of a powerful multimission platform, named Express-4000, based on the Spacebus 4000 architecture.

Express-4000 is a platform for direct injection (GSO) in geostationary orbit, compatible with the Proton rocket launcher, built, integrated in Krasnoïarsk and sale by NPO PM. On-board will be installed a telecommunications payload build by Thales Alenia Space.

[edit] Synthesis as June 3, 2008

The three latest News[6]

2008, June 3: Thales Alenia Space wins Nilesat-201 satellite contract, a Spacebus 4000B2[1].

2008, April 18: Star One C2 is successfully launched by Ariane 5 in Kourou at 22:43 GMT

2008, February 29: Thales Alenia Space today announced that it has transferred the Turksat 3A and the Star One C2 communications satellite to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana[7].
  • Ordered: 63
  • Delivered: 53
  • Under construction: 10
  • Launched with success: 48
  • Lost during launch: 4
Launchers used
  • Ariane 4: 21
  • Ariane 5: 13
  • Atlas: 6
  • Ariane 1 à 3: 4
  • Proton: 4
  • Long March: 3
  • Delta: 1
  • Zenith: 1
  • Shuttle: 1

[edit] Records

  • February 2, 1985: launch of Arabsat-1A, First Arab League communication satellite, a Spacebus 100
  • October 28, 1988: launch of TDF-1, First European Direct broadcast satellite, a Spacebus 300
  • October 28, 1998: launch of GE-5, First European communication satellite saled to United States, a Spacebus 2000.
  • November 18, 2007 : launch of the 50th Spacebus[8] (the Star One C1 satellite , a Spacebus 3000B3) by Ariane 5 flight 179 in Kourou.
  • December 21, 2007: launch of Rascom-QAF1, the First panafrican Communication satellite, a Spacebus 4000B3.

[edit] Footnotes and Sources

  1. ^ a b Thales Alenia Space wins Nilesat-201 satellite contract, June 3, 2008, online www.thalesgroup.com
  2. ^ Sixth successful Arianespace mission in 2007: RASCOM-QAF1 and Horizons-2 in orbit. Arianespace.
  3. ^ RASCOM-QAF1 satellite injected in final geostationary orbit. Thales Alenia Space.
  4. ^ Eutelsat awards W3B telecom satellite to Thales Alenia Space, Cannes, February 26, 2008, on www.thalesonline.com
  5. ^ Thales Alenia Space and NPO-PM to finalize an industrial cooperation agreement, Cannes, December 6, 2007, www.thalesonline.com/space/Press-Room
  6. ^ Thales Alenia Space Press release
  7. ^ Thales Alenia Space transferred Turksat 3A satellite to its launch site in Kourou, Cannes, February 29, 2008 , online www.thalesonline.com
  8. ^ Christian Lardier, « Ariane-5 : un tir de l'industrie européenne - le 50e Spacebus », dans Air & Cosmos, N° 2100, du 16 novembre 2007

[edit] External links

  • The SPACEBUS Family for Communication Satellites, Paper IAF-85-379, XXXVth International Astronautical Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, October 7–12,1985 - D.E. Koelle, MBB, Ottobrunn, FRG - Jean-Jacques Dechezelles, Aerospatiale, Cannes, France, own archives
  • Encyclopedia Astronautica, particularly the permanent following of satellite orbital positions
  • Gunter’s Space Page, an its exhaustive lists of platforms, satellites and chronologies for all launchers
  • The Spacecraft Encyclopedia and its chronological list of all satellites launched with detailed information
  • The Thales Alenia Space website Manufacturer documentation and press releases
  • Spacemart, press releases
  • Space Newsfeed, press releases
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