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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0116.PDF
INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE DIRECTORY Syncom IV continued Design life 7 years Cost $355m—5 years lease of a four-craft network Remarks HS381 bus—first "widebody" satellite specifically designed to incur the minimum Shuttle launch charge. Unique frisbee launch action imparts both stabilising spin and separation velocity. Leasat has its own built-in solid- propellant perigee boost motor, hence its high launch weight. The 13-channel communications payload provides six relay channels, five narrowband and one wideband channels, plus an SHF Fleet broadcast channel. Skynet 4 Skynet 4 will provide Britain's armed forces with strategic and tactical commu nications links between ships and fixed and mobile land terminals. Skynet 4 will replace the sole surviving Skynet 2B launched in November 1974 (Skynet 2A was lost on launch and Skynet 3 was cancelled in the 1974 Defence Review). Two Skynet 4s have been ordered, one providing an in-orbit backup. Purpose Communications satellite Payload 4 SHF channels 2 UHF channels 1 EHF uplink (experimental) Owner UK Ministry of Defence Manufacturer British Aerospace (Marconi Space & Defence Systems— payload) Orbit Geostationary—approximately 6°W Launch Skynet 4A Jun 1986 Shuttle Stabilisation 3-axis Power (end of life) l-2kW Weight (at launch) 1,250kg Design life 7 years Cost £80m (1981)—two craft plus ground control Remarks Based on ECS bus, with radia tion hardening and electronic counter- counter-measures. The experimental extra high frequency (EHF) uplink will be operated by the Royal Signals Research Establishment (RSRE). Earth observation ERS-l Europe's first Earth-resources satellite, ERS-l is designed for ocean surveillance and is planned as the forerunner for a series of operational spacecraft to be launched in the 1990s. While its primary role will be to provide global wind and wave information to users within 3hr of observation, ERS-l will also investigate land observation by synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Matra prepares Spot 1, France's first Earth-resources satellite, for launch by Ariane late in 1985 , Payload C-band synthetic-aperture radar radar altimeter along-track scanning radiometer microwave sounder Owner European Space Agency (with Canada) Manufacturer Dornier (prime con tractor) Orbit Sun-synchronous, near-polar, 780km high, 3-day repeat cycle 44 Launch By Ariane in 1989 Stabilisation 3-axis Power 2-6kW Weight 2,160kg Design life 2 years minimum Cost £325m (1984) Remarks Uses the Spot bus. The SAR sensor will operate in three modes—' image, wind scatterometer, and wave. The radar altimeter will measure wave height, wind speed, ice type, topography, and FLIGHT International, 12 January 1985
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