9/12/2023 0 Comments 1992 space shuttle endeavor crew![]() ![]() It operated in GEO until January 2013, with Intelsat confirming its retirement and placement in a GEO graveyard orbit in February 2015. The satellite then used its thrusters to fully raise itself to geostationary orbit (GEO) on - just over a week after it was rescued in low Earth orbit. The crew then attached the new perigee kick motor and re-released the satellite into orbit where the motor successfully fired. ![]() On the third rendezvous attempt, the first and to-date only three-person spacewalk took place, allowing for the successful capture of Intelsat VI F-3 as the mission’s commander delicately flew Endeavour in station-keeping with the satellite. Intelsat, not wanting to throw away a perfectly good satellite that just needed a new Orbus-21S perigee kick stage to get it into its intended geostationary transfer orbit, went to NASA and purchased a Shuttle rescue mission.Įndeavour launched two years and two months after Intelsat VI F-3, rendezvousing with the craft three times due to failures to capture the satellite using the intended two-person spacewalk to attach a capture bar to it. Setting the stage for the flight, Intelsat VI F-3 was launched on a Titan III rocket on 14 March 1990 and stranded in low Earth orbit when the rocket’s Orbus-21S upper stage failed to separate from Titan III’s second stage. But on, Endeavour stood ready for the STS-49 voyage to do just that. This was, in reality, only accomplished a few times in the Shuttle program’s history. One of the selling points of the Space Shuttle system was its ability to not just allow large payloads and satellites to be launched at one time, but that the vehicle was capable of finally enabling on-orbit rescue, repair, and servicing of satellites. Northrop Grumman now aims to change that in 2024 when their new Mission Robotic Vehicle and Mission Extension Pods begin launching to perform on-orbit satellite servicing and repairs.Įndeavour’s first mission and a look to the future ![]() In the now-30 years since that mission, on-orbit satellite repair and servicing have largely languished - save for the five Hubble servicing missions Endeavour and the Shuttle fleet would conduct after STS-49. The goal: rendezvous with, repair, and re-release the satellite. Her target: Intelsat VI F-3 (now known as Intelsat 603). On, Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off on her first voyage at 23:40 UTC from Pad-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ![]()
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