1963-031A
The second Syncom payload, A-26 or Syncom B,was similar to the first. Launch was at 1433 UT on 1963 Jul 26. The apogee motor was successfully fired over 22S 39E (SAO-SR156) at 2005.01 UT on Jul 26, leaving Syncom II drifting 7 deg East per day. A burn at 2010 UT on Jul 27 reversed the drift to 4.5 deg West per day. By Aug 12, the drift was only 1.2 deg W/d, and at Aug 15 geosynchronous orbit was achieved with a mean longitude of 55 deg W, and an orbit of 35780 x 35865 km x 32.4 deg. Stationkeeping maneuvers were carried out on 1964 Mar 15 and 1965 Aug 19. By 1965 Jan the satellite had been moved to 73 deg East and was on loan to the US Department of Defense. By February, the stationkeeping propellant was depleted and Syncom II was drifting in longitude but otherwise operational. In 1965 Apr responsibility for Syncom II was transferred to DoD; the transfer was completed by 1965 Jul 8, with DCA in charge of the satellites and AFSCF controlling. The satellite was still working in 1966.
| Syncom 2 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 Jul 26 | 1433:00 | Launch by Thor Delta | |
| 1435 | Thor MECO | ||
| 1435 | Delta S/N 20006 burn | ||
| 1436 | T+3:30 St 3 spinup | ||
| 1437? | Delta SECO | ||
| 1439? | Altair burn | ||
| 1439:51 | T+6:51 Altair burnout | ||
| 1443? | Altair sep | 230? x 36224 x 33.1 | |
| 2005:56 | AKM burn 20s | ||
| 2006:16 | AKM burnout | ||
| 1963 Jul 27 | 1910 | Reverse drift | 4.5W/d |
| 1963 Jul 31 | 2040 | Axis correction | 6.8W/d |
| 1963 Aug 11 | 1600 | H2O2 burn, 14 min | |
| 1963 Aug 12 | 0545 | N2 Braking, 30min | 1.2W/d |
| 1963 Aug 15 | 0520 | N2 braking 46min | |
| 1963 Aug 15 | On station | 35780 x 35865 x 32.4 GEO 55W | |
| 1963 Aug 16 | 1544 | East drift burn 2 min | GEO 55W |
| 1963 Nov 28 | 0100 | Resync burn | GEO 59W |
| 1963 Dec 2 | Resume drift | ||
| 1963 Dec 10 | 1944 | 1436.21 35784 x 35793 x 32.9 GEO 59.1W+0.03E | |
| 1964 Feb 11 | 1436.54 35789 x 35802 x 32.9 GEO 62.1W+0.1E | ||
| 1964 Mar 17 | Stationkeep burn 3m/s | 1.3W/d | |
| 1964 Mar 19 | 1342 | 1435.41 35587 x 35958 x 33.4 GEO 68.1W+0.17W | |
| 1964 Apr 19 | 1441.46 35891 x 35891 x 32.7 GEO 113.6W+1.3E | ||
| 1964 Apr 24 | Braking, 0.8W/d 2m/s | ||
| 1965 Jan | Moved from Brazil to Indian Ocean | GEO 68E | |
| 1965 Jan | GEO 73E | ||
| 1965 Jan 14 | 1438.55 35803 x 35865 x 32.2 GEO 174W+0.6E | ||
| 1965 Jun 1 | Mv in | 1436.05 35760 x 35811 x 31.8 GEO 26.2E+0.0W | |
| 1965 Jul 8 | To DoD | ||
| 1965 Aug 19 | Stationkeep burn | ||
| 1965 Sep 24 | 1436.37 35759 x 35810 x 31.8 GEO 29.1E+0.0W | ||
| 1966 Feb 16 | 1435.74 35739 x 35819 x 31.2 GEO 69.4E+0.1W | ||
| 1968 Nov 14 | 1436.24 35762 x 35816 x 30.0 GEO 85.6E+0.04E | ||
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