Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990 TAG: 9006140111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
NASA tentatively set the rescue mission for the 1992 inaugural flight of the space shuttle Endeavour.
The rescue of the uninsured satellite is expected to cost Intelsat more than half of the $146.5 million price for a non-government shuttle mission.
"NASA has the technological know-how to reboost the satellite, and we want to take advantage of NASA's expertise so we can boost the satellite and it will have a 10-year life span," said company spokesman Tony Trujillo.
Intelsat's board of governors authorized the rescue attempt during a weeklong meeting in Barbados that ended Wednesday.
The satellite is orbiting at about 345 miles above Earth, 22,000 miles lower than intended. It was even lower when it failed to separate properly from a Titan 3 rocket on March 14, but Intelsat ground controllers managed to boost it.
NASA said last month it would try to save the satellite if Intelsat paid for the mission. Last week, the federal Office of Management and Budget approved NASA's proposed $130 million price tag - in 1988 dollars - for non-government shuttle flights. That amounts to $146.5 million for fiscal 1990.
Intelsat will cover a "sizable fraction" of the expense since other cargos will be on board, said NASA payload manager William D. Green.
The plan calls for Endeavour to carry a 20,000-pound motor that will be attached to the satellite in the payload bay by space-walking astronauts. The motor will contain a safety device to prevent it from firing until the shuttle is at a safe distance.
Intelsat ground controllers will send a command that will ignite the motor and boost the 5-ton satellite to its proper stationary orbit.
The February 1992 date would not disrupt other shuttle flights, Green said. "The reason we're doing it is we're in the business of providing space services when people ask for it," he said.
NASA has twice repaired satellites in space - in 1984 and 1985 - and brought back two other disabled spacecraft.
Intelsat, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of 119 countries that operates a global communications satellite system, was not interested in having the satellite returned to Earth for repair because of the expense and delay in getting it back up.
The Intelsat VI satellite was to have replaced two older Intelsat satellites over the Atlantic. Once in proper orbit, it will be capable of transmitting three TV channels and up to 120,000 telephone calls simultaneously.
Intelsat's service will not be disrupted by the three-year delay, Trujillo said. Fourteen Intelsat satellites currently are in orbit, and a Titan 3 is scheduled to carry up another one later this month.
by CNB