INTELSAT K
Atlas IIA
United States Air Force
Mission
INTELSAT K
- Type: Communications
- Orbit: Geostationary Orbit
Intelsat K, Intelsats first Ku-band only satellite, was originally built as Satcom K4 for GE Americom, but was acquired in 1989 and required extensive payload modifications. It is a single spacecraft purchased to meet critical requirements for Ku-band capacity over the Atlantic region, driven primarily by international broadcasters.
Location
Launch Complex 36B
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Launch Complex 36B has witnessed the launch of 76 rockets, including 76 orbital launch attempts, while Cape Canaveral, FL, USA, has been the site for 940 rocket launches.
Rocket
Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. It was designed to launch payloads into low earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. Sixty-three launches of the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS models were carried out between 1991 and 2004; all sixty-three launches were successes, making the Atlas II the most reliable launch system in history.
Agency
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.