Intelsat 708

INTELSAT / US

Spacecraft n°:

INTELSAT spacecraft n°: 55

Launch data:

Designation: 96F01
Launch date 14 Feb 1996
Launch site Xichang, LC-2
Launch vehicle  CZ-3B
Mission:Communications
Must be in Geostationary orbit:

Launch failure
The launch vehicle went off course shortly after leaving the pad and was destroyed about 20s after liftoff with its payload. Six people were killed and 57 injured, officially. Unofficial, deaths were said to be hundreds, and injured in the thousands. Two seconds after lift-off of the Long March 3B, the inertia platform became abnormal and the inertia baseline veered.

Spacecraft data:

Prime manufacturer Ford Aerospace
Platform 
Operator Intelsat
Mass at launch   kg
Dry Mass  kg
Basic shape  
Dimension (m) 
Solar array 
Stabilization  
Propulsion 
DC power  

Ref: #15 - update: 24.12.10