Intelsat I

Intelsat I F1

INTELSAT I Early Bird.
Mission type Communications
Operator Communications Satellite Corporation / Intelsat
COSPAR ID 1965-028A
SATCAT no. 1317
Mission duration 3 years and 5 months
Spacecraft properties
Bus HS301
Manufacturer Hughes Aircraft
Launch mass 149.0 kilograms (328.5 lb)
Power 40.0 watts
Start of mission
Launch date April 6, 1965, 23:47:50 (1965-04-06UTC23:47:50Z) UTC
Rocket Delta D
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-17A
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime GSO
Semi-major axis 7,832.2 kilometers (4,866.7 mi)
Eccentricity 0.0011480
Perigee 35,767.8 kilometres (22,225.1 mi)
Apogee 35,855.1 kilometres (22,279.3 mi)
Inclination 3.1270°
Period 1.437 minutes
RAAN 294.7634 degrees
Argument of perigee 168.3421 degrees
Mean anomaly 191.2416 degrees
Mean motion 1.00198253
Revolution no. 8068

Intelsat I (nicknamed Early Bird for the proverb "The early bird catches the worm") was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, on April 6, 1965.[1][2] It was built by the Space and Communications Group of Hughes Aircraft Company (later Hughes Space and Communications Company, and now Boeing Satellite Systems) for COMSAT, which activated it on June 28. It was based on the satellite that Hughes had built for NASA to demonstrate that communications via synchronous-orbit satellite were feasible. Its booster was a Thrust Augmented Delta (Delta D). After a series of maneuvers, it reached its geosynchronous orbital position over the Atlantic Ocean at 28° west longitude, where it was put into service.[3]

It helped provide the first live TV coverage of a spacecraft splashdown, that of Gemini 6 in December 1965. Originally slated to operate for 18 months, Early Bird was in active service for four years, being deactivated in January 1969, although it was briefly activated in June of that year to serve the Apollo 11 flight when the Atlantic Intelsat satellite failed. It was deactivated again in August 1969 and has been inactive since that time (except for a brief reactivation in 1990 to commemorate its 25th launch anniversary), although it remains in orbit.

The Early Bird satellite was the first to provide direct and nearly instantaneous contact between Europe and North America, handling television, telephone, and telefacsimile transmissions. It was fairly small, measuring nearly 76 × 61 cm (2.5 × 2.0 feet) and weighing 34.5 kg (76 pounds).

Early Bird was one of the satellites used in the then record-breaking broadcast of Our World.

Model

A full-scale model, or a flight test model, hangs in the main lobby of the Intelsat headquarters building, Washington, D.C.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Encyclopedia Astronautica - Intesat I". Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  2. ↑ "Intelsat: History". Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  3. ↑ http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/intelsat-1.htm
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