Intelsat 3R

Intelsat 3R (formerly PAS-3R) is a communications satellite serving the Americas market.^[2] It is owned by Intelsat and located at 43° West longitude.

Intelsat 3R

Names	PAS-3R PANAMSAT 3R IS-3R Panamsat K4
Mission type	Communications
Operator	PanAmSat (1996-2006) Intelsat (2006-2011)
COSPAR ID	1996-002A
SATCAT no.	23764
Website	http://www.intelsat.com
Mission duration	15 years (planned) 15 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Boeimg 601
Bus	HS-601
Manufacturer	Hughes
Launch mass	2,920 kg (6,440 lb)
Dry mass	1,727 kg (3,807 lb)
Power	4.3 kW
Start of mission
Launch date	12 January 1996, 23:10:00 UTC
Rocket	Ariane 44L H10-3 (V82)
Launch site	Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-2
Contractor	Arianespace
Entered service	March 1996
End of mission
Disposal	Graveyard orbit
Deactivated	August 2011
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[1]
Regime	Geostationary orbit
Longitude	43° West (1996-2010) 81° West (2010-2011)
Transponders
Band	40 transponders: 20 C-band 20 Ku-band
Coverage area	Americas, Caribbean, Europe, Africa
PanAmSat constellation ← PAS-4 PAS-5 →

Satellite description

Hughes Aircraft Corporation constructed the satellite based on the HS-601 satellite bus, having a mass at launch of 2,920 kg (6,440 lb), which decreased to around 1,727 kg (3,807 lb) when it was operational.

The spacecraft had 20 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders.^[3] Its two solar panels spanned 26 m (85 ft) and generated 4.7 kW of power when the spacecraft first entered service. The power was expected to drop to around 4.3 kW by the end of the vehicle's operational life, i.e., 15 years.^[3]

Launch

Arianespace launched PAS-3R using an Ariane 4 launch vehicle, flight number V82, in the Ariane 44L H10-3 configuration. The launch occurred on 12 January 1996 at 23:10:00 UTC from ELA-2 at the Centre Spatial Guyanais, at Kourou in French Guiana.^[3]

Intelsat 3R

Intelsat 3R was launched in January 1996 and operated by PanAmSat until it merged with Intelsat in 2006. The spacecraft and the rest of PanAmSat's fleet were renamed on 1 February 2007.^[3]

Decommissioning

Intelsat 3R was removed from geostationary orbit in August 2011 and was placed into graveyard orbit.