Galaxy 15

USA

International Sat. n°:

USA satellite n°:

Launch data:

Designation	28884 / 05041A
Launch date	13 Oct 2005 - 22:32 UT
Launch site	Ko, ELA-3
Launch vehicle	Ariane-5GS (V168)
Mission	Commercial: Communications
Geostationary orbit on:
Perigee / Apogee	35779 x 35794 km
Eccentricity	2,25E-04
Inclination	0.06°
Period	1436.09 min

Launched together with Syracuse 3A.

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor	Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC)
Operator	PanAmSat
Platform	Star-2 Bus
Mass at launch	2033 kg
Dry Mass	885 kg
Basic shape
Dimension
Equipment	20-24 C-band transponders + L-band transponder
Solar array
Stabilization
Propulsion	IHI 500 N engine
DC power	4700 W
Design lifetime	15 years

Galaxy 15 under construction

Location:

Begin	Position	Remarks

04 Mar 2008	227° E	manoeuvred off-station
July 2010	132.97° W

Decay:

Out of service:	July 2010
Cause:	no more active
Descent date:
Lifetime:

Mission details:

In the autumn of 2003, PanAmSat Corporation, modified its contract with Orbital for Galaxy XV, the third Star-2 spacecraft under construction for its North American fleet. A second U.S. Governmentsponsored L-band payload was added to the satellite’s original C-band commercial payload as part of the Geostationary Communications and Control Segment (GCCS) program being integrated by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Galaxy XV will relay Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation information to in-flight aircraft, providing super-accurate guidance to pilots at thousands of airports and airstrips where there is currently no precision landing capability.
North America, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean; 24 C-band transponders, 2 L-band transponders for transmission of navigational data; anomaly in 4/10 left Intelsat out of communication with the satellite.
Intelsat's Galaxy 15 satellite failed on April 5, 2010 and began drifting off station, with its communications payload still transmitting. The satellite is an Orbital Star 2, launched in Oct 2005 as part of Panamsat's Galaxy fleet; Panamsat was sold to Intelsat in Jul 2006. By Apr 30, 2010 Galaxy 15 had drifted from 133.0W to 132.6W, and between Apr 7 and Apr 19, 2010 Galaxy 12 was moved to 133.1W to replace it.
Since their introduction in 1997 there have been 21 Star-class satellites launched including Galaxy 15; BSat-2b was stranded in transfer orbit by a launch vehicle failure but the other 19 are all still operating (May 2010).

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Kourou.

Headquarter cancel Paris.

Credit covers: J.VdDr.

Ref.: #7(JR627), #14, #205, #225, #226, #415 - update: 13.01.20

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