1974-039A
ATS F (Applications Technology Satellite 6) was the last of the ATS satellites, and a completely different design. Built by Fairchild Industries, the satellite was dominated by its huge, 9.1-meter, 87 kg deployable antenna. The main experiment payload was in the 1.37 m dia Earth Viewing Module (EVM), a box located at the antenna focus.
The Titan IIIC launch vehicle left pad 40 at Cape Canaveral at 1300 UT on 1974 May 30. After solid motor and stage 1 separation, Titan core stage 2 ignited at 1304:16 and entered a 154 x 314 km x 28.6 deg parking orbit. The Transtage and its payload separated from the Titan, and Transtage made its first burn at 1412:26 until 1417:37, into a geostationary transfer orbit. The second Transtage burn to circularize the orbit at geostationary altitude was at 1936:56, and the Transtage separated from ATS 6 at 1941:37. Antenna deployment took from 1947 to 2010 UT.
After braking burns on Jun 6 and Jun 7, the spacecraft reached station at 94 deg W. On 1975 May 30 at 0030, ATS 6 burned to move out of GEO and began the move to 35 deg E for the SITE (Satellite Instructional TV Experiment) in India. Orbit corrections were made on May 21 and Jun 21, and braking burns on Jun 25 and Jun 29. By Jun 30 ATS 6 was on station again and SITE could begin, bringing educational TV to remote villages in India. The experiment lasted one year, and on 1976 Aug 1 ATS 6 moved out of GEO again to head for 140 deg W. Course corrections were made on Aug 4, Nov 29 and Nov 30. A final braking maneuver on 1976 Dec 2 signalled the satellite's arrival at the new position.
Operations at 140W continued until 1979 Jun 30; on Jul 31 a 28 hr long burn lowered the orbit, and on Aug 2 the propellant was burned to depletion, leaving the satellite in a 35224 x 35430 km orbit with a period of 1412.5 min. ATS 6 was switched off at 0144 on Aug 30, but switched on again in 1979 Nov for collection of particle data. The satellite was finally retired in Feb 1980.
| ATS 6 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 May 30 | 1300:00 | Launch by Titan 3C | |
| 1301:49 | T+1:49 St 1 burn | ||
| 1302:01 | SRM sep | ||
| 1304:17 | Stage 1 sep | ||
| 1304:16 | Stage 2 burn | ||
| 1305:05 | Fairing sep | ||
| 1307:44 | T+7:44 Stage 2 MECO | 154 x 314 x 28.6 | |
| 1308:00 | Stage 2 sep | ||
| 1412:26 | T+1:12:26 Transtage burn 1 | ||
| 1417:37 | T+1:17:37 Transtage MECO1 | 489? x 35700? x 26.4 | |
| 1926:50 | Transtage burn 2 | ||
| 1928:39 | Transtage MECO2 | ||
| 1933:21 | Sep | ||
| 1938:25 | Transtage sep | ||
| 1947 | Begin antenna deploy | ||
| 2008 | T+7:08:44 Transtage retro burn | ||
| 2010 | Complete deploy | 35761 x 35817 x 1.78 GEO 94.41W | |
| 1974 Jun 6 | Braking | ||
| 1974 Jun 7 | Braking | GEO 94W | |
| 1974 Jul 1 | GEO 94 W | ||
| 1974 Aug 8 | TCM | ||
| 1974 Sep 14 | TCM | ||
| 1974 Oct 19 | TCM | ||
| 1974 Dec 28 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Feb 22 | TCM | ||
| 1975 May 19 | GEO 94W | ||
| 1975 May 20 | 0030 | Mv out | |
| 1975 May 21 | TCM | ||
| 1975 May 25 | 76W+3E/d | ||
| 1975 Apr 11 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Jun 21 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Jun 25 | braking | ||
| 1975 Jun 29 | braking | ||
| 1975 Jun 30 | SITE, on station | GEO 35E | |
| 1975 Jul 3 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Aug 3 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Aug 31 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Sep 28 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Oct 25 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Nov 22 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Dec 20 | TCM | ||
| 1975 Dec 30 | GEO 35E (Morgan) | ||
| 1976 Jan 18 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Jan 31 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Feb 21 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Mar 21 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Apr 18 | TCM | ||
| 1976 May 14 | TCM | ||
| 1976 May 30 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Jun 13 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Jul 11 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Jul 31 | GEO 35E | ||
| 1976 Aug 1 | mv out | GEO 35E | |
| 1976 Aug 4 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Nov 29 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Nov 30 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Dec 2 | Braking, 140W | ||
| 1976 Dec 12 | TCM | ||
| 1976 Dec 13 | GEO 140W | ||
| 1977 Jan 9 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Jan 20 | 1436.11 35779 x 35794 x 0.4 GEO 140.0W | ||
| 1977 Feb 1 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Feb 20 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Apr 6 | TCM | ||
| 1977 May 3 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Jun 7 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Jul 15 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Aug 18 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Sep 12 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Oct 12 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Nov 7 | TCM | ||
| 1977 Dec 9 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Jan 6 | 1436.01 35770 x 35799 x 1.1 GEO 140.2W | ||
| 1978 Jan 11 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Feb 15 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Mar 17 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Apr 14 | TCM | ||
| 1978 May 11 | TCM | 1436.22 35773 x 35804 x 1.4 GEO 140.0W | |
| 1978 Jun 7 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Jul 6 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Aug 2 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Aug 24 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Sep 27 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Oct 5 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Oct | GEO 140W | ||
| 1978 Oct 11 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Nov 8 | TCM | ||
| 1978 Dec 6 | TCM | ||
| 1979 Jan 3 | 1436.06 35772 x 35799 x 1.9 GEO 140.1W | ||
| 1979 Jan 4 | TCM | ||
| 1979 Jan 28 | TCM | ||
| 1979 Feb 28 | TCM | ||
| 1979 Mar 28 | TCM | ||
| 1979 May 9 | TCM | ||
| 1979 Jun 6 | 1436.03 35774 x 35796 x 2.2 GEO 140.0W | ||
| 1979 Jun 21 | 1435.94 35772 x 35794 x 2.2 GEO 139.5W+0.03 | ||
| 1979 Jun 30 | End of ops | GEO 140W | |
| 1979 Jul 9 | 1435.84 35765 x 35797 x 2.2 GEO 138.6W+0.06W | ||
| 1979 Jul 31 | 1435.71 35761 x 35796 x 2.3 GEO 136.8W+0.09W | ||
| 1979 Jul 31 | Test burn | ||
| 1979 Aug 2 | Depletion burn | 1412.5 35224 x 35430 x 2.3 | |
| 1979 Sep 9 | 1412.03 35190 x 35437 x 2.4 | ||
| 1982 Feb 12 | 1412.07 35168 x 35461 x 4.2 | ||
| 1990 Jun 1 | 1411.99 35188 x 35438 x 10.7 | ||
| 1994 Apr 20 | 1412.04 35168 x 35460 x 13.3 | ||
| 1998 Jul 30 | 1411.97 35204 x 35421 x 14.7 | ||
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