Intelsat VA F-15
{{Short description|Communications satellite}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = Intelsat VA F-15 → Columbia 515
| image =
| image_caption =
| mission_type = Communication
| operator = Intelsat{{\}}Columbia Communications Corporation
| website =
| SATCAT = 19772
| mission_duration = 7 years (planned)
| spacecraft_bus = Intelsat VA
| manufacturer = Ford Aerospace
| dry_mass = 1098 kg {{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/intelsat-5a.htm|title=Intelsat 5A|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=April 23, 2017}}
| launch_mass = 1981 kg
| power = 1800 watts
| dimensions = 1.66 x 2.1 x 1.77 metres
| launch_date = 27 January 1989,
01:21:00 UTC{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|work=Jonathan's Space Page |access-date=April 23, 2017}}
| launch_rocket = Ariane 2 V28
| launch_contractor = Aérospatiale
| entered_service =
| disposal_type = Graveyard orbit
| deactivated = November 2002
| orbit_epoch = 27 January 1989
| orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit
| orbit_regime = Geostationary orbit
| orbit_longitude = 60.0° East (1989-1992),
18.0° West (1992-1996),
21.5° West (1996-1998),
37.8° West (1998-2002)
| apsis = gee
| trans_band = 29 C-band
6 Ku-band
| trans_frequency =
| trans_capacity =
| trans_coverage =
| trans_TWTA =
| trans_EIRP =
| trans_HPBW =
| programme = Intelsat V
| previous_mission = Intelsat VA F-14
| next_mission = Intelsat VI F-1
}}
Intelsat VA F-15 or Intelsat 515, then named Columbia 515, was a communications satellite operated by Intelsat and which was later sold to Columbia Communications Corporation. Launched in 1989, it was the fifteenth of fifteen Intelsat V satellites to be launched. The Intelsat V series was constructed by Ford Aerospace, based on the Intelsat VA satellite bus. Intelsat VA F-15 was part of an advanced series of satellites designed to provide greater telecommunications capacity for Intelsat's global network, from an orbital station at 60.0° East.
Satellite
The satellite was box-shaped, measuring 1.66 by 2.1 by 1.77 metres; solar arrays spanned 15.9 metres tip to tip. The arrays, supplemented by nickel-hydrogen batteries during eclipse, provided 1800 watts of power at mission onset, approximately 1280 watts at the end of its seven-year design life. The payload housed 29 C-band and 6 Ku-band transponders. It could accommodate 15,000 two-way voice circuits and two TV channels simultaneously. It also provided maritime communications for ships at sea.{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1989-006A|title=Display: Intelsat 5A F-15 1989-086A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=20 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}
Launch
The satellite was successfully launched into space on 27 January 1989, at 01:21:00 UTC, by means of an Ariane 2 vehicle from the Crentre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, French Guiana. It had a launch mass of 1981 kg.{{cite web|url=http://www.tbs-satellite.com/tse/online/sat_intelsat_515.html|title=INTELSAT 515|publisher=TSE|access-date=April 23, 2017}}
Columbia 515
From 1 April 1998, the satellite was used by Columbia Communications Corporation and renamed Columbia 515. The Ku-band payload was not used anymore. Columbia Communications was granted the right to operate a C-Band satellite by the FCC as a replacement at the location, 37.8° West. It was deactivated in November 2002.
References
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{{reflist}}
{{Intelsat}}
{{SES satellites}}
{{Orbital launches in 1989}}
Category:Spacecraft launched in 1989
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