Loral Space and Communications announced today that the launch of Loral Skynet’s Telstar 6 broadcast video and data communications satellite scheduled for launch October 15, 1998, on a Proton rocket has been postponed and is expected to be rescheduled for the end of November.
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), the satellite manufacturer, was notified by
component provider AEG of Germany that the traveling wave tubes (TWTs)
in the satellite assembly may be susceptible to thermally induced
fatigue, requiring several weeks for tube modification and additional
testing prior to launch of the satellite.
Modifications to the TWTs on the Telstar 6 satellite, currently at the
Proton launch base in Baikonur, will be undertaken at the site. Pending
final confirmation from launch provider International Launch Services
(ILS) and successful modification and re-testing of the TWTs, the
company expects to launch Telstar 6 in late November.
“We believe it is prudent to stand down temporarily from the scheduled
launch of Telstar 6 until we are certain that the satellite meets all
specifications,” stated Terry Hart, president, Loral Skynet. “This delay
will not affect our ability to continue to meet commitments to our
customers for satellite transmissions.”
The satellites in Loral Skynet’s current constellation, Telstar 4 and
Telstar 5, are equipped with a different version of the traveling wave
tubes and are operating normally.
Telstar 6, which carries a total of 52 transponders — 24 at C-band and
28 at Ku-band — will be one of the most sophisticated and powerful
communications satellites available to broadcasters and program
distributors in North America, covering the 50 United States, Puerto
Rico, the Caribbean, and parts of Canada and Latin America.
The state-of-the-art Telstar 6 satellite will provide Loral Skynet’s
broadcasting, education and news gathering customers with the clearest,
and most interference-free broadcast video and data communications
transmissions available in the industry today.
