Sirius-W
| Sirius-W / Marcopolo 1 | |
|---|---|
| Start date | August 27, 1989, 22:59 UTC |
| Launcher | Delta 4925-8 D187 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-17B |
| COSPAR-ID : | 1989-067A |
| Takeoff mass | 1220 kg |
| Mass in orbit | 660 kg |
| Dimensions | 2.16 m diameter, 2.7 m height |
| Span in orbit | 7.2 m |
| Manufacturer | Hughes |
| model | HS-376 |
| operator | BSB , NSAB |
| Playback information | |
| Transponder | 5 Ku transponders |
| Transponder performance | 55 or 110 W. |
| Others | |
| Electrical power | 1100 W |
| position | |
| First position | 31 ° west |
| Actual position | Cemetery orbit |
| drive | Star-30BP |
| List of geostationary satellites | |
Sirius-W (formerly: Sirius 1 , Marcopolo 1 and BSB-R1 ) is a former television satellite that was operated by British Satellite Broadcasting and Nordiska Satellitaktiebolaget (NSAB).
purpose
After British Satellite Broadcasting received a license for direct broadcast satellites from the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), two identical satellites were ordered from Hughes . The manufacturer Hughes was not only responsible for the development and production of the satellites, but also for the first time for the launch and the first tests in orbit before the satellites were handed over to the operator. Marcopolo 1 was the first purely commercial launch of a US missile.
Operation at BSB
Marco Polo 1 started with a Delta 4925 on August 27, 1989 at 22:59 UTC. After tests it was positioned at 31 ° west . The sister satellite Marcopolo 2 followed just under a year later . Both satellites broadcast together on the five channels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 television programs in the television standard D-MAC, which could be received with 35 cm antennas in the British Isles. In addition, a sister company of BSB marketed the bandwidth for data transmissions that was not used by the television program at D-MAC.
Operation at NSAB
BSB was taken over by competitor Sky Television in late 1991 . Marcopolo 1 stopped broadcasting in early 1992. It was sold to the Swedish Nordiska Satellitaktiebolaget (NSAB) in December 1993 and operated under the name Sirius 1 at 5 ° East until the end of 2000 . Then he was deployed under the name Sirius W at 13 ° West and brought into cemetery orbit in May 2003.
Web links
- BSB-R1 in the NSSDCA Master Catalog (English)
- Boeing: BSB. United Kingdom's First Direct Broadcast Service (English, archived August 3, 2004)
- Ross Lockley: BSB - United Kingdom's First Direct Broadcast Service (English, archived February 19, 2012)
- Gunter's Space Page: Marco Polo 1, 2 (BSB 1, 2) / Sirius 1 / Thor 1 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sirius-W in the NSSDCA Master Catalog , accessed on November 8, 2012 (English). "It was the first commercial launch for a US launch vehicle and also heralded a new industry trend wherein the satellite maker must certify that the vehicle is safely in orbit before transferring control to the operator."
- ↑ Frequency assignments for the DBS satellites of the European countries ( Memento of November 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- ↑ Chris Wathan: The BSB / Sky Merger. October 4, 2004, archived from the original on November 21, 2009 ; accessed on November 8, 2012 .