Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Tempo 2

 1997-011A


The Tempo satellites were owned by TCI Satellite Entertainment Inc. (TSAT), a subsidiary of TCI (Telecommunications Inc) of Littleton, Colorado, and provided high power direct TV broadcasting for the United States. It uses the SS/Loral FS-1300 bus. 

The launch of TEMPO 1 was delayed; A last minute FCC ruling that it could not use a Canadian orbital slot and frequencies caused the payload to be reduced from 27 to 11 transponders. Once regulatory problems were resolved, the processing flow for TEMPO 2 was in better shape to allow launch and so it went first. TEMPO 2 launch mass was 3558 kg. It will use the 119W slot.

A month after launch, Tempo 2 suffered a power failure during a solar storm, leaving it operating at 85 percent power. Tempo 2 had the first GaAs arrays on a high power comsat. Loral reported later that solar arrays wired at more than 60V were prone to electrical discharges and short circuits during moderate solar activity.

Tempo 2 became the property of DirecTV/El Segundo in 1999. It was renamed DirecTV-6.


TEMPO 2 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1997 Mar 8  0601  Launch by Atlas AC-128 CC LC36A 
 0605  SECO T+4:32 
 0605  Atlas sep T+4:34 
 0605  Centaur TIG1 T+4:51 
 0610  Centaur MECO1 T+9:45  158 x 308 x 28.0 (s) 
 0625  Centaur TIG2 T+24:37 
 0626  Centaur MECO2 T+25:56 
 0629  Centaur sep T+28:07 
 0658  Centaur depletion 
1997 Mar 8    368.35 154 x 21132 x 25.7 
1997 Mar 8  2145?  LAM-1 
1997 Mar 9    369.82 250 x 21126 x 25.2 
1997 Mar 10  0130? LAM-2 
1997 Mar 10    468.56 266 x 26944 x 25.3 
1997 Mar 11  0100? LAM-3 
1997 Mar 11    630.24 275 x 35668 x 25.3 
1997 Mar 12  0300? LAM-4 
1997 Mar 12    733.41 5475 x 35647 x 12.3 
1997 Mar 12  0300? LAM-5 over 135W 
1997 Mar 14    1411.26 34981 x 35614 x 0.6 GEO 116.1W+6.3E 
1997 Mar 19    1434.96 35710 x 35818 x 0.6 GEO 110.1W+0.3E 
1997 Mar 29    1436.08 35753 x 35819 x 0.6 GEO 109.9W 
1997 Apr 11    1436.07 35753 x 35818 x 0.5 GEO 109.8W 
1997 Apr 11   Solar storm damage 
1997 Apr 14   mv out  1440.29 35815 x 35921 x 0.5 GEO 115.9W+1.0W 
1997 Apr 18   mv in  1436.21 35759 x 35818 x 0.5 GEO 118.8W 
1999 Oct 16    1436.06 35767 x 35804 x 0.1 GEO 118.8W 
2003 Jul 7   mv out  GEO 119W 
2003 Jul 17  mv in  GEO 110W 
2003 Sep 12  1436.08 35772 x 35800 x 0.0 GEO 109.7W 

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