SBS 6 (satellite)

SBS 6 was a geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Hughes (now Boeing) on the HS-393 platform. It was originally ordered by Satellite Business Systems, which later sold it to Hughes Communications and was last used by Intelsat. It had a Ku band payload and operated on the 95°W longitude.[3]

SBS 6
Mission typeCommunication
OperatorIntelsat
COSPAR ID1990-091A[1]
SATCAT no.20872
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSBS 6
BusHS-393
ManufacturerHughes
Launch mass2,478 kg (5,463 lb)
BOL mass1,484 kg (3,272 lb)
Dimensions3.7 m × 10 m × 2.3 m (12.1 ft × 32.8 ft × 7.5 ft) with solar panels and antennas deployed.
Power2.2 kW
Start of mission
Launch date22:58, October 12, 1990 (UTC) (1990-10-12T22:58Z)[2]
RocketAriane 44L
Launch siteKourou ELA-2
ContractorArianespace
End of mission
Disposalplaced in a graveyard orbit
DeactivatedApril 2009[3]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeInclined geosynchronous
Semi-major axis42527 km
Perigee altitude36,127.3 km
Apogee altitude36,186.6 km
Inclination7.3°
Period1,454.7 minutes
Epoch00:00:00 2016-08-17[4]
Transponders
BandKu band: 19 × 45 Mhz[3] />
Bandwidth855 MHz
Coverage areaContinental United States[5]
TWTA power41 Watts
 

Satellite description

The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by Hughes on the HS-393 satellite bus. It had a launch mass of 2,478 kg (5,463 lb), a mass of 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) after reaching geostationary orbit and an 8-year design life. When stowed for launch, its dimensions were 3.4 m (11 ft) long and 3.7 m (12 ft) in diameter.[6]

With its solar panels fully extended it spanned 10 m (33 ft).[3] Its power system generated approximately 2,350 Watts of power thanks to two cylindrical solar panels.[3] It also had a two 38Ah NiH2 batteries.[3] These panels used K7 and K4-3/4 solar cells and were more than twice the number than on the HS-376.[6]

Its propulsion system was composed of two R-4D LAE with a thrust of 490 N (110 lbf). It also used two axial and four radial 22 N (4.9 lbf) bipropellant thrusters for station keeping and attitude control.[6] It included enough propellant for orbit circularization and 8 years of operation.[3]

Its payload was composed of a 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) multi horn antenna by thirty 45 MHz Ku band transponders, of which 19 were active and 11 spares. It had a total active bandwidth of 855 MHz.[3][6] The Ku band transponders had a TWTA output power of 41 Watts.[3][6] It also had an omnidirectional command and telemetry antenna.[6]

History

In 1985 Satellite Business Systems decided to order a more powerful satellite than the HS-376 based previous satellites. Thus, it ordered the HS-393 based SBS 6 from Hughes, becoming the first customer of the platform.[3]

On October 12, 1990, SDS 6 was finally launched by an Ariane 44L from Kourou ELA-2 at 22:58 UTC.

In April 2009, SDS 6 finally decommissioned and put on a graveyard orbit.[3]

gollark: The rockets are quite expensive, though, so the obvious solution is to have cheaper externally propelled vehicle things launched from the ground.
gollark: But several hours to go across the country is still quite significant, and if your passenger transport system cannot be used as a weapon of mass destruction it is not very good, so the obvious solution is ridiculously expensive rocket-based travel.
gollark: But rail would be quite fast, possibly cheaper if you ignore the huge initial investment, and could ship cargo!
gollark: Consider: interstate travel by road is quite slow, thus making the US significantly more divided. Airports are faster, but also more expensive and not good for bulk goods, plus security queues make things slower.
gollark: Small brain: interstate highway system.Large brain: airports everywhere or something.Large glowy brain or something: interstate high-speed maglev railway.Galaxy brain: interstate suborbital rocket system.Transcendent universe brain: interstate passenger railgun.

References
  1. "SBS 6". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  2. "SBS 6". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  3. Krebs, Gunter Dirk (2016-08-17). "SBS 6". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  4. "SBS 6". n2yo.com. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  5. "SBS 6". PanAmSat. Archived from the original on 2006-03-12. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  6. "SBS 6". Boeing Satellite Development Center. Archived from the original on 2010-02-07. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
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