Intelsat 6

Part of the Intelsat program

At the time, the Intelsat 6 series were the largest commercial spacecraft ever built. The series were also the first commericial satellites to employ Satellite Switched/Time Division Multiple Access (SS/TDMA) techniques.

Spacecraft
Based on Hughes 393 bus. Spin stabilized with despun antenna. Hydrazine propulsion system. Passive thermal control. Telescoping dual-cylinder structure with deployed antennas. Body mounted solar cells generate 2250 W (EOL). Solar drums are each about 6m tall.

Payload
38 (plus 12 backup) C-Band and 10 (plus 4 backup) Ku-Band transponders. 120,000 telephone calls and 3 color TV broadcasts simultaneously. SS/TDMA (Satellite-Switched Time Division Multiple Access) techniques used.

Country of Origin	International
Customer/User	ITSO
Manufacturer(s)	Hughes
Size	Cylinder: 11.8 m high, 3.6 m diameter
Orbit	Geosynchronous
Design Life	13 years

Launch Facts

Name	Int'l Desig.	Date	Site	Vehicle	Orbit	Mass(kg)
Notes
Intelsat 6 F-2	1989-087A	10/27/89	Kourou	Ariane 44L	GEO	4215
24.5 deg E
Intelsat 6 F-3	1990-021A	3/14/90	ESMC	Titan 3	LEO	4215
2nd stage separation failure; unusable orbit
Intelsat 6 F-4	1990-056A	6/23/90	ESMC	Titan 3	GEO	4215
International communications; 63 deg E
Intelsat 6 F-5	1991-055A	8/14/91	Kourou	Ariane 44L	GEO	4296
International communications; 14.5 deg W
Intelsat 6 F-1	1991-075A	10/29/91	Kourou	Ariane 44L	GEO	4330
International communications; 27.5 deg W