by Hartley Lesser

Intelsat 11 is one of six comsats ordered by Intelsat from Orbital Sciences Corporation.



There are two payloads on this vehicle. The first serves the continental United States (CONUS), Mexico and South America and is the C-band payload. The second payload is Ku-band and serves DirecTV’s Latin America downlink coverage in Brazil. Also supported are spot beams for portions of Florida, Mexico and Venezuela.

Intelsat 11 Specifications

LAUNCH INFO:
Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5
Launch Site: Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana
Launch Date: October 5, 2007
Launch Mass: 2,500 kg (5,512 lb.)


SPACECRAFT DETAILS:
Batteries: Two >3850 W-Hr capacity Li-Ion batteries
Mission Life: 15 years (fueled for 16 years)
Orbit: 43 degrees West Longitude
Propulsion: Liquid bi-propellant transfer orbit system;
Monopropellant (hydrazine) on-orbit system
Solar Arrays: Four panels per array, UTJ Gallium Arsenide Cells
Stabilization: 3-axis stabilized; zero momentum system


SATELLITE PAYLOAD:
C-BAND
Antenna: 2.3 m dual gridded deployable reflector with corrugated feed horn assembly
Repeater: 12 active transponders with 16-for-12 redundant TWTA’s
TWTA Power: 110 W RF at saturation
K-BAND
Antenna: 2.3 m dual gridded deployable transmit antenna; 0.9 m Dual gridded deck mounted receive antenna
Repeater: 9 active transponders with two groups of 12-for-9 TWTA’s
TWTA Power: 110 W RF at saturation


Intelsat also has offices in Washington D.C. and Ellenwood, Georgia