Satellites from Space System/Loral post performance milestone: 800 years on orbit
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NYSE:LOR), today announced that its satellites have set a new milestone by achieving over 800 years of collective on-orbit service.
Beginning with the 1960 launch of Courier, the world’s first active repeater satellite, satellites from Space Systems/Loral have reliably served in applications as diverse as international communications, global
environmental studies, Internet services, and air traffic control. Altogether, 152 SS/L satellites have been placed into on-orbit service over the past 41 years.
Nearly half of the 800-year total has been amassed by SS/L’s 1300 series three-axis, body-stabilized satellite buses, which operate above the planet in geosynchronous orbit. In addition, the 52 low-earth-orbit satellites built for GlobalstarTM accounted for 89 years of service. More than 60 of the 152 satellites that SS/L has successfully launched have already exceeded their designed mission lives and continued in service. In fact, 13 of the 21 satellites SS/L built for Intelsat have surpassed their mission lives by at least four years, and some continued in service for as many as 10 additional years. Taken together, SS/L’s satellites have the capacity to blanket the globe many times over with their coverage, reaching virtually the entire world.
The Products
SS/L’s geostationary satellite product portfolio continues to evolve to best meet the current and future needs of the market. SS/L now offers a line of three products that provide customers with a great span of power and capability: the space-proven 1300, the advanced 1300S, and the 20.20, the most powerful commercial spacecraft offered today. The power on
SS/L-designed satellites reaches from 5 kilowatts to as high as 30 kilowatts, and the number of transponders that can be accommodated goes from as few as 1 to as many as 150.
SS/L satellites are designed to achieve long useful orbital life, excellent stationkeeping, excellent fuel economy, and orbital stability by using advanced propulsion and stabilization systems. Systems of high-efficiency solar arrays and light-weight batteries provide uninterrupted electrical power over the life of the spacecraft.
The Company
Space Systems/Loral is a premier designer, manufacturer, and integrator of powerful satellites and satellite systems. SS/L also provides a range of related services, including mission control operations and procurement of launch services. Based in Palo Alto, California, the company has an international base of commercial and governmental customers whose applications include broadband digital communications, wireless telephony, direct-to-home broadcast, environmental monitoring, and air traffic control. SS/L is ISO 9001 certified. The company employs approximately 3,100 people, and has annual sales of approximately $1.6 billion (US). For more information, visit www.ssloral.com
Loral Space & Communications is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services, including broadcast transponder leasing and value-added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, global wireless telephony, broadband data transmission and content services, Internet services, and international direct-to-home satellite services.
