palapa-b press kit

8/7/2019 Palapa-B Press Kit

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- N ! A ewsNationalAeronauticsandSpace AdministrationWashington.D C 20546AC 202 755 -8370

Bill O'DonnellHeadquarters, Washington, D.C.(Phone: 2 0 2 / 7 5 5 - 0 8 1 6 )Fc rr ReleaseIMPlEDIATE

Joseph McRobertsGoddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.(Phone: 3 0 1 / 9 8 2 - 4 9 5 5 )

RELEASE NO: 7 7 - 2 3

NASA TO LAUNCH SECOND SATELLITE FOR INDONESIA

Indonesia's second satellite in a two-spacecraft networkfor domestic communications is scheduled for launch by NASAaboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., no earlierthan March 1 0 . The Delta is managed for NASA's Office ofSpace Flight by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,Md.

Called Palapa-B (Palapa-2 in orbit), the satellite willbe placed in synchronous orbit 3 5 , 8 0 0 kilometers ( 2 2 , 3 0 0 miles)above the equator and will be allowed to drift to its on-station position at 7 7 degrees E. long3tude at the rate oftwo or three degrees a day.

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Initiallv, it is expected to be placed just south ofIndia. Palapa-1, launched by NASA in July 1976 and opera-ting successfully since then, is located at 8 3 degreesE. lonqitude.

With both satellites in operation,radio, telephone andtelevision communications through some 3,000 inhabitedislands of Indonesia's 13,000 are expected to almost tripleby 1978.

Indonesian officials selected satellite communicationsbecause of the tremendous problems and expense in estahlish-ing conventional land and underwater communications links.It was not economically or physically possible to installwires and microwave towers cver thousands of miles of ocean,islands, hills and forests.

Forty Earth stations located in the major cities ofthe nation form the initial grounr? network for the twosatellites with a total of 50 stations planned.

The Jakarta station will monitor and control the other

ground stations in the system as well as transmit the signalthat fires the spacecraft's on-board apogee kick motor whichtakes it out of its elliptical 11-hour transfer orbit toplace it in synchronous orbit.

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Initial monitoring and control functions will behandled from the Western I'nion control station inGlenwood, N . J .

The two spacecraft are identical to the Canadian Anikand Western Union's WESTAR satellites with the exceptionof the antenna which has been modified to provide optimumillumination of the Indonesian land mass.

The 12-transponder satellite has an average capacityof 4 , 0 0 0 voice circuits or 12 simultaneous color televisionchannels. It measures 3.7 meters (11 feet) in height(including the antenna) and 1.9 m (6.2 ft.) in diameter.The antenna is a shabed-beam solar transparent 1.5-m (4.8-ft.)diameter parabolic dish.

Launch weight of the spacecraft is 575 kilograms (1,267pounds) including the apoqee kick motor which weighs 293 kg(645 lb.). Design lifetime is seven years.

The Indonesian government will reimburse NASA or thecost of the launch vehicle, launch services and other admin-istrative costs and has arranged for all ground stationsupport required for the launch and control of the satellite.

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There are no requirements for NASA ground stationtracking or command support beyond the launch phase.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is responsible forlaunch operations.is llcDonne11 Douglas Astronautics Co., Huntington Beach,Calif. Prime contractor for the Palapa spacecraft isHughes Aircraft Co., El Segundo, Calif.

Prime contractor for the Delta rocket

(END OF GENERAL RELEASE. BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS. )

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DELTA LAUNCH VEHICLE

F i r s t S t a g eThe f i r s t s t ag e i s a McDonnell Douglas modified Thor

b o o s t e r i n c o r p o r a t i n g n i n e s t r a p - o n T h i o k o l s o l i d - f u e lr o c k e t motors . T h e b o o s t e r i s powered bv a Rocketdyneen g i n e u s i n g l i q u i d o xy gen and l i q u i d h v d ro ca rb o n p r o p e l -l a n t s . The main engine i s gimbal-mounted t o pr0vid.e p i t c ha nd yaw c o n t r o l from l i f t o f f t o m ain e n g i ne c u t o f f (P IECO) .Second Stage

The second s t a ge i s powered by a TRW l i q u i d - f u e l ,p r e s s u r e - f e d e n g i n e t h a t a l s o i s gimbal-mounted t o p r o v i d ep i t c h and yaw co n t r o l t h r o u g h t h e s eco nd s t ag e b ur n . An i t r o q e n g a s s ys te m u s e s e i g h t f i x e d n o z z l e s f o r r o l l con-t r o l du r i ng powered and c o a s t f l i g h t , a s w e l l a s p i t c h andyaw co n t r o l d u r i n g c o a s t and a f t e r s e co nd s t a g e c u t o f f s .Two f i x e d n o z z l e s, f e d by t h e p r o p e l l a n t t a n k , h el iu m p r e s -s u r i z a t i o n s ys te m, p ro v id e r e t r o t h r u s t a f t e r t h i r d s t a ges e p a r a t i o n . F i f ty - t w o m i n ut e s a f t e r s p a c e c r a f t s e p a r a t i o n ,t h e s e c o n d s t a g e w i l l b e r e i g n i t e d f o r a 16-second bvrn.Data on t h i s b ur n w i l l b e c o l l e c t e d f o r s t u d i e s r e l a t e d t of u t u r e D e l t a m i s s i o n s .T h i r d Stacre

T h e t h i r d s tage i s t h e TE -364 -4 s p i n - s t a b i l i z e d , s o l i dp r o p e l l a n t T h i o k o l motor. I t i s s e c ur e d i n t h e s p i n t a b l emounted t o t h e s ec o nd s t a g e . T h e f i r i n g of e i g h t s o l i dp r o p e l l a n t r o cke t s f i x e d t o t h e s p i n t a b l e accompl i shessp in-up of the. t h i r d s t a g e s p a c e c r a f t a s se mb ly .I n j e c t i o n I n t o S yn ch ro no us O r b i t

The De l t a v e h i c l e w i l l i n j e c t P ala pa i n t o a t r a n s f e ro r b i t h a vi ng a n apogee of 3 6 , 3 0 0 km ( 2 2 , 5 7 0 m i . ) . A t t h i spoint ,NASA/Delta r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s end . Command, c o n t r o l ,t r a c k i n g a nd d a t a a n a l y s i s become t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s oft h e W est er n Union C o n t r o l S t a t i o n s and J a k a r t a .

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A l t i t u d e V e l o c i t yE v e n t Time R i l o m e t e r s / M i l e s Km/hr MphL i f t o f f 0 sec. 0 0 2 ,434 1 ,512Si x S o l i d Motor Burnout 38 sec. 6 4 2 , 3 5 8 1 , 4 6 7T h r e e S o l i d Motor 39 sec.I g n i t i o n 6 4 2 ,358 1 ,467

3,960 2 ,460h r e e S o l i d Motor 1 m i n . 18 sec. 2 3 1 4BurnoutNine S o l i d MotorJ e t t i s o nMain E n g i n e C ut o f f(MECO)

4,266 2 ,6504 1 5min. 27 sec.

1 0 6 6 5 1 8 , 7 0 2 1 1 , 6 2 03 min. 48 sec.

Fi r s t / Second St age 3 min. 56 sec. 113 70 18 ,720 11 ,632Sepa ra t ionS e c o n d S t a g e I g n i t i o n 4 min. 1 sec. 1 1 6 7 2 1 9 , 7 8 2 12 ,292F a i r i n g J e t t i s o n 4 min. 35 sec. 1 3 7 85 1 9 , 2 6 0 1 1 , 9 6 7S e c o n d S t a g e C u t o f f 8 min. 55 sec. 188 1 1 7 28 ,222 17 ,536(SECO)T h i r d Stage S p i n u p 2 2 m i n . 36 sec. 231 1 4 3 2 7 , 8 93 1 7 , 3 3 2

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TYPICAL LAUNC'H SEQUENCE F OR PALAPA-3 (Cont d oA l t i t u d e V e l o c i t y

Even t Ti me Kilometers /Miles Km/hr MphSecond/Third Stage 22 min. 38 sec. 231 143 27,893 17 332S e p a r a t i o n

17 33222 I 864

27 893T h i r d S t a g e I g n i t i o n 2 3 min. 20 sec. 23 1Third S tage Burnou t 2 4 min. 3 sec. 233 145 36 I 797

143

Third S tage/Space-c r a f t S e pa r at io n 25 min. 15 sec. 259

*Second S ta ge Ig n i t i on 77 min. 2 4 see.# 2Second Stage Cu tof f 77 min. 26 sec.(SECO 2)

1 6 1 2 2 , 8 1 16,710

*Experimen tal Burn f o r R&D Purposes . N o t m i s s i o n - r e l a t e d .

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LAUNCH OPERAT IONS

Kennedy Space Ce n te r ' s Expendable Ve hic les D i r e c t o r a t ep l a y s a key r o l e i n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n a nd l au n c h o f t h e t h r u s t -augmented D e l t a roc ke t ca r r y i ng Palapa -B.

De l t a 1 2 9 w i l l be launched from Pad A a t Complex 1 7 ,Cape Canaveral A i r F o r c e S t a t i o n .T h e D el ta f i r s t s t a g e and i n t e r s t a q e w e r e e r ec t ed onPad A Jan . 11. The n i n e s o l i d s t ra p - o n r o c k e t m o t or s w e r emounted i n p l ac e a round th e base of t h e f i r s t s t a ge Jan . 1 3and 1 4 and t h e second s ta g e was erected Jan . 21 .The Pa lapa -B spacec ra f t w a s r e c e i v e d e a r l y i n Februa ry ,checked out and m a t e d w i t h t h e De l t a t h i r d s t age . T h e s t a g e dsp a c e c r a f t a s se m b l y i s t o be mated w i t h D e l t a on March 3 and

t h e p a y lo a d f a i r i n g w hich w i l l p r o t e c t t h e s p a c e c r a f t on i t sf l i g h t t h ro u g h t h e a t mo sp he re i s t o be pu t i n p l a ce March 8.DELTA/PALAPA LAUNCH TEAM

NASA Headquar t e r sJohn F. Yardley Assoc ia te Ad m i n i s t r a t o rf o r S pace F l i g h tJoseph B. Mahon Direc to r of Expendable Launch

Vehicle ProgramsP e t e r T. Eaton Manager, D e l t a Program

Goddard Space Fl ight CenterD r . Rober t S. Cooper D i r e c t o rRober t E. Srnylie Deputy D ir ec to rD r . W i l l i a m C. Sc h n e i d e r D i r e c t o r of P r o j e c t sManagementC h a r l e s R. GunnW i l l i a m R. R u s s e l l

D e l t a Projec t ManagerDeputy D e l t a P r o j e c tManaqer, Technical

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Goddard C e n t e r ( c o n t ' d . )_-Rober t Goss

W i11 m B u r rowbr i dge

Tecwyn R o b e r t sA l b e r t G. Fe r r i s

R i c h a r d S c l a f f o r dDale C a l lJohn WalkerWayne MurrayPat McGoldr ick

Kennedy Sp ace Ce nt erL e e R. S c h e r e rM i l e s R o s sD r . W a l t e r J, Kapryan

George F. PageHugh A. Weston, J r .

Wayne L, McCall

Lawrence F. Kruse

Ch ie f , Mi s s ion Ana lys i s andI n t e g r a t i o n B ra nc h, Del taP r o j e c t O f f i ce

D e l t a M i s s i o n I n t e g r a t i o nEng inee rD i r e c t o r of NetworksDi rec to r of Mission andDa ta Opera t i onsNetwork Su pp or t ManagerNetwork DirectorNetwork Operations ManaqerNetwork Operations ManagerNASA Communications Engineer

D i r e c t o rDeputy Di r ec to rD i r e c t o r , S pa ce V e h i c l e sO p e r a t i o n sD i r e c t o r , E x pe n da b le V e h i c l e sC h i e f , D e l t a O p e r a ti o n sD i v i s i o nC h i e f E n g i n e e r , D e l t ao p e r a t i o n sS p a c e c r a f t C o o r d i n a t o r

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palapa-b press kit

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