Intelsat III F-6

Intelsat III F-6 was a communications satellite owned by Intelsat. The satellite had an estimated useful life of 5 years.

Intelsat III F-6

Mission type	Communications
Operator	Intelsat
COSPAR ID	1970-003A
SATCAT no.	04297
Mission duration	5 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	TRW Inc.
Launch mass	293 kilograms (646 lb)
BOL mass	151 kilograms (333 lb)
Power	183 W
Start of mission
Launch date	January 15, 1970, 00:16:03 (1970-01-15UTC00:16:03Z) UTC[1]
Rocket	Delta M
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-17A
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric[2]
Regime	Geostationary[2]
Eccentricity	0.00033[2]
Perigee altitude	35,773 kilometers (22,228 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude	35,801 kilometers (22,246 mi)[2]
Inclination	0.9°[2]
Period	1,436.1 minutes[2]
Epoch	January 15, 1970[2]
Intelsat III ← Intelsat III F-5 Intelsat III F-7 →

Design

The sixth of eight Intelsat III satellites to be launched, Intelsat III F-6 was built by TRW. It was a 293-kilogram (646 lb) spacecraft equipped with two transponders to be powered by body-mounted solar cells generating 183 watts of power.^[3] It had a design life of five years and carried an SVM-2 apogee motor for propulsion.^[4]

Launch

Intelsat III F-6 was launched on a Delta M rocket, flying from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch took place on January 15, 1970, with the spacecraft bound for a geosynchronous transfer orbit.^[1]

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• 1970 in spaceflight