SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH FOR BOEING-BUILT ANIK F1
Most Powerful Boeing Satellite Built to Date
Kourou, French Guiana, Nov. 21, 2000 -- A powerful Boeing 702 satellite, Anik F1, built for Telesat Canada to provide expanded communication services to the Americas, was successfully launched tonight aboard an Ariane rocket from the Guiana Space Center on the northeast corner of South America. Liftoff occurred at 3:56 p.m. PST, (6:56 p.m. EST and 23:56 GMT). Anik F1's first signals were received 38 minutes later from Australia's Gnangara ground station, indicating that all systems are operating normally. Once in service, Anik F1 will provide North American broadcast services, as well as telecommunications, broadcast and Internet services to South America.
"Anik F1 is the ninth satellite we've built for Telesat Canada and at 17.5 kilowatts is our most powerful satellite ever," noted Tig H. Krekel, President of Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc. (BSS), formerly Hughes Space and Communications Company. "Our shared tradition of excellence began with the first Anik in 1972 and will continue for decades to come. Anik F1 and Anik F2, which is scheduled to launch in two years, are world leaders in satellite power and capacity. Anik F1 is 15 times more powerful than the Anik C and D satellites," he added. "And we continue to push that envelope."
The powerful 17.5-kilowatt satellite will operate in geosynchronous orbit at 107.3 degrees West longitude. To generate such high power, the two five-panel solar wings employ high-efficiency dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells.
The Anik F1 payload consists of 84 transponders. The C-band consists of 36 active transponders with 40-watt traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and the Ku-band consists of 48 active transponders with 115-watt TWTAs. Anik F1 has a contracted life of 15 years, using four 25-cm thrusters providing xenon ion propulsion (XIPSTM) for all on-orbit maneuvering.
At launch, Anik F1 weighed 10,384 pounds (4710 kg). In orbit, at beginning of life, the satellite will weigh 6647 pounds (3015 kg) and measure 132.5 feet (40.4m) long and 29.5 feet (9m) wide with the solar panels and antennas deployed.
Telesat, Canada's national satellite communications company, and Boeing Satellite Systems, formerly Hughes Space and Communications Company, have a long history of success working together, dating back to the early 1970s when Hughes built Telesat's first satellites, the Anik A series. Later, Hughes built Telesat's Anik C series, as well as the Anik D satellites in cooperation with Canada's Spar Aerospace in the 1980s. The name "Anik" is taken from the Inuit language, and means "little brother."
BSS is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, and is also a major provider of space systems, satellites, and payloads for national defense, science and environmental applications. The company was formed in October 2000 when The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) acquired the Hughes Electronics satellite manufacturing companies, which included Hughes Space and Communications Company, Hughes Electron Dynamics, Spectrolab, Inc., and Hughes Electronics' 50 percent share of HRL Laboratories.
The Boeing Company, headquartered in Seattle, is the largest aerospace company in the world and the United States' leading exporter. It is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft, and the largest NASA contractor. The company's capabilities in aerospace also include rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, launch vehicles, and advanced information and communication systems. The company has an extensive global reach with customers in 145 countries and manufacturing operations throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.
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BOEING SATELLITE SYSTEMS, INC.
Public Relations Department
P.O. Box 92919 (S10/S323)
Los Angeles, CA 90009
Public Relations (310) 364-6363
www.boeing.com/satellite
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