Hughes Space and Communications Co. has confirmed the readiness of the Sirius 3 satellite for launch next Monday night, Oct. 5, from Kourou. It is the seventh launch of the year for Hughes and the 52nd HS 376 to be built. The window for launch on an Ariane rocket opens at 22:51 GMT (18:51 EDT). The launch will be carried on Galaxy VI, Transponder No. 9.
Sirius 3 is a high-power HS 376 satellite built for Nordiska Satellitaktiebolaget (NSAB) of Sweden. The satellite will provide direct-to-home television services to the Scandinavian region.
Sirius 3 carries 15 Ku-band transponders powered by 44-watt traveling wave-tube amplifiers. The spacecraft will use gallium arsenide solar cells to generate a minimum of 1400 watts of spacecraft power at end of life, and will rely on nickel-hydrogen batteries for power through eclipse periods.
Sirius 3 is the first satellite Hughes has sold directly to a Swedish customer, but it is not the first Hughes-built satellite in NSAB’s
fleet. In 1993, NSAB acquired Marcopolo I, an HS 376 satellite launched in 1989 for British Satellite Broadcasting Ltd. NSAB renamed Marcopolo I to Sirius 1, and it operates from 5 degrees East longitude.
Sirius 3 is designed to be co-located at 5 degrees East but may be operated from other geostationary longitudes as well.
