Estrela do Sul 2

Spacecraft n°:

Brazilian spacecraft n°: 21

Launch data: Designation  37602 / 11021A Launch date  20 May 2011 - 19:15 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC-200/39 Launch vehicle  Proton-M Briz-M Mission  Commercial: Broadband Communication Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  35783 x 35791 km Eccentricity  9.49E-05 Inclination  0.02 deg Period  1436.1 min

Description:

• Telstar 14R was built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif. The satellite is also known as Estrela do Sul 2, meaning "southern star" in Portuguese, because one of its primary coverage zones is over Brazil. Telstar 14, also called Estrela do Sul 1, launched in 2004 but was stricken when its north solar array also failed to fully deploy in space. Telstar 14 has been operating only a fraction of its communications payload since then, and Telesat ordered Telstar 14R to replace and expand service from its orbital location in geostationary orbit at 63 degrees west longitude. Telesat expected Telstar 14R would more than double the communications capacity of Telstar 14. With five beams and 46 Ku-band transponders, Telstar 14R's coverage was to be focused on Brazil, with additional coverage of the Atlantic Ocean, the Andean region and Central America, the southern cone of South America and the continental United States

Mission details:

• Five communications antennas and 46 Ku-band transponders -- 19 switchable and 27 fixed. Will also serve Brazil. Failed to fully deploy one of its solar panels.
• The Telstar 14R satellite, also known as Estrela do Sul 2, was launched on May 20, 2011. It is a Ku-band television broadcast satellite which will provide service to Brazil; `Estrela do Sul' is Portuguese for `Southern Star'.
• Telstar 14R is owned by Telesat of Ottawa, but probably managed and operated by its Bedminster, New Jersey office which used to be Loral Skynet, and before that AT&T.
• International Launch Services delivered the spacecraft to geostationary transfer orbit aboard a Khrunichev Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage. The Briz-M separated at 0428 UTC on May 21.
• Telstar 14R failed to fully deploy one of its solar arrays, a similar failure to that suffered by the Telstar 14 spacecraft it is replacing. On May 28 the satellite was still in its initial 8751 x 35819 km x 13.7 deg transfer orbit, being tracked as object 2011-021B. The discarded Briz-M additional propellant tank is in a lower perigee orbit and is currently 2011-021A, but StratCom will probably switch the designations at some point when they figure it out.