AsiaSat 3
| AsiaSat 3 | |
|---|---|
| Start date | December 24, 1997 |
| Launcher | proton |
| Launch site | Baikonur |
| COSPAR-ID : | 1997-086A |
| Takeoff mass | 3480 kg (2534 kg in orbit) |
| Empty mass | 1674 kg |
| Dimensions | 3.1 × 3.4 × 4.0 m (at the start) |
| Span in orbit | 26.2 m |
| Manufacturer | Hughes |
| Satellite bus | HS-601HP |
| lifespan | 5 years (planned: 15 years) |
| Stabilization | Three-axis |
| operator | PanAmSat |
| Playback information | |
| Transponder | 28 C-band (+6 reserve) 16 Ku-band (+4 reserve) |
| Transponder performance | 55 watts (TWTA) 138 watts (TWTA) |
| Bandwidth | 36 MHz 54 MHz |
| EIRP | 40 dBW 53 dBW |
| Others | |
| Electrical power | 9.9 kW |
| position | |
| First position | 60 ° west |
| Actual position | 164.4 ° West |
| drive | Marquardt R-4D-11-300 |
| List of geostationary satellites | |
AsiaSat 3 (also HGS-1 and PAS-22 ) was a communications satellite of the Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat for short) from Hong Kong. He carried out - not originally intended - the first commercial mission to the moon .
mission
On December 24, 1997, the satellite was launched from Baikonur on a Russian Proton launcher . However, the engine of the upper stage fired only one second during the second burn, so that the satellite missed the intended geostationary orbit and remained in a transition orbit with an altitude of 365 × 35,989 km and a 51.6 ° orbit inclination. The operating company had the satellite written off as a loss by the insurance company.
The manufacturer Hughes Global Systems (HGS) later acquired the rights to the unusable satellite. He ignited the satellite's engine and the satellite then flew twice close to the moon on May 13 and June 7, 1998. These two swing-by maneuvers enabled the satellite to reach the planned geostationary orbit on its return flight to Earth on June 19, 1998. A large part of the 1700 kg of fuel was used for this, but still less than would have been needed to reach the intended orbit without the swing-by maneuvers. This first two-pass lunar mission in a commercial context was of no scientific value. The satellite was not equipped for this.
The operator renamed the satellite HGS-1 and sold it in April 1999 to PanAmSat , which operated it until 2002 as PAS-22 at 60 ° West. Then the satellite ran out of fuel and was maneuvered into cemetery orbit . AsiaSat 3, which had already been written off as a total loss, had reached about half the lifespan of geostationary satellites with the regular course of the mission.