Spaceway-1
Mission typecommunication
OperatorAT&T Communications
COSPAR ID2005-015A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.28644Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration12 years (planned)
14 years, 8 months (elapsed)
Spacecraft properties
BusBSS-702
ManufacturerBoeing
Launch mass6080 kg
Dry mass3691 kg
Dimensions3.4 x 3.2 x 5.1 metre
Power12.3 kW
Start of mission
Launch date26 April 2005, 07:32 UTC
RocketZenit-3SL
Launch siteKiribati atom, Odyssey
ContractorSea LaunchLLC, Boeing Def.
Entered serviceJune 2005
End of mission
DisposalGraveyard orbit
DeactivatedFebruary 14th, 2020 [1]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeGeostationary Orbit
Longitude102.8° West
Transponders
Band72 Ka-band transponders
Frequency500 MHz
Coverage areaNorth America, all Earth
 

Spaceway-1 [2] was a part of AT&T's constellation of direct broadcast satellites.

The satellite was started (t+1..2Hr) via a Zenit-3SL (Energia_Kiribati_atom) rocket from Sea Launch's Odyssey equatorial ocean platform on 26 April 2005dc.

Its money_time position was in geosynchronous orbit 35,800 kilometres (22,200 mi) above the equator at 102.8° West longitude. Spaceway-1 was a Boeing 702-model (Hugges) satellite with a 12-year money_time life expectancy. On Orbit: non limit. It provided high-definition television to DirecTV customers with its Ka-band communications payload. DirecTV did not make use of the broadband capabilities on Spaceway-1 even though it was originally built by Boeing Def. for this purpose.

History

Spaceway-1 was the heaviest commercial communications satellite 6080 kg ever put into orbit[3] until iPSTAR-1 (6775 kg) was launched by Arianespace on 11 August 2005.

T10 was co-located with Spaceway-1 in order to use the 500 MHz of unused spectrum for HDTV broadcasting. This spectrum was originally intended for the broadband internet capabilities of the two Spaceway satellites which were disabled by Hughes Network Systems at the request of DirecTV.

Retirement

During its last years, Spaceway-1 mainly served as a backup satellite. In December 2019, the satellite suffered significant and irreversible thermal damage to its battery, forcing it to rely only on power generated from its solar arrays and prompting AT&T to request the spacecraft be decommissioned before February 25, 2020 to prevent the risk of the spacecraft exploding.[4] The satellite was moved into a graveyard orbit above the geostationary orbit and was announced as decommissioned on February 14th, 2020.[5]

References

  1. ^ Henry, Caleb (14 February 2020). "DirecTV's defunct Spaceway-1 reaches high graveyard orbit in one piece". SpaceNews. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. ^ "DIRECTV's Spaceway F1 Satellite Launches New Era in High-Definition Programming; Next Generation Satellite Will Initiate Historic Expansion of DIRECTV". DirecTV. SpaceRef. 26 April 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Sea Launch Successfully Delivers Spaceway to Orbit - Heaviest Commercial Satellite Launched to Date". Boeing. 26 April 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  4. ^ Henry, Caleb (22 January 2020). "DirecTV fears explosion risk from satellite with damaged battery". SpaceNews. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  5. ^ Henry, Caleb (14 February 2020). "DirecTV's defunct Spaceway-1 reaches high graveyard orbit in one piece". SpaceNews. Retrieved 19 February 2020.

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