Intelsat III F-7 was an American communications satellite owned by Intelsat. The satellite had an estimated useful life of 5 years.
| Mission type | Communications |
|---|---|
| Operator | Intelsat |
| COSPAR ID | 1970-032A |
| SATCAT no. | 04376 |
| Mission duration | 5 years (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | TRW Inc. |
| Launch mass | 647 kilograms (1,426 lb) |
| BOL mass | 151 kilograms (333 lb) |
| Power | 183 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | April 23, 1970, 00:46:12 UTC[1] |
| Rocket | Thor Delta M 559/D78 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-17A |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric[2] |
| Regime | Geostationary[2] |
| Longitude | 124° W (current position)[2] |
| Semi-major axis | 42,146 kilometers (26,188 mi)[2] |
| Perigee altitude | 35,760.4 kilometers (22,220.5 mi)[2] |
| Apogee altitude | 35,789.9 kilometers (22,238.8 mi)[2] |
| Inclination | 4.9°[2] |
| Period | 1,435.1 minutes[2] |
| Epoch | May 29, 2018[2] |
Intelsat III | |
Design
The seventh of eight Intelsat III satellites to be launched, Intelsat III F-7 was built by TRW. It was a 647-kilogram (1,426 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.
Launch
Intelsat III F-7 was launched by a Delta M rocket, flying from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
