| Names | IS-29e |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Communications |
| Operator | Intelsat |
| COSPAR ID | 2016-004A |
| SATCATno. | 41308[1] |
| Website | Intelsat IS-29e |
| Mission duration | 15 years (planned) 3 years (achieved) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Intelsat 29e |
| Spacecraft type | Boeing 702 |
| Bus | Boeing 702MP |
| Manufacturer | Boeing Satellite Development Center |
| Launch mass | 6,552 kg (14,445 lb) |
| Dimensions | 7.5 m × 3 m × 2 m (24.6 ft × 9.8 ft × 6.6 ft) |
| Power | 15.8kW |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 27 January 2016, 23:20UTC |
| Rocket | Ariane 5 ECA (VA-228) |
| Launch site | Centre Spatial Guyanais,ELA-3 |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 8 April 2019 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Geosynchronous orbit |
| Longitude | 50° West |
| Transponders | |
| Band | 77transponders: 20C-band 56Ku-band 1Ka-band |
| Bandwidth | C-band: 864MHz Ku-band: 9,395 MHz Ka-band: 450 MHz |
| Coverage area | United States,Latin America,North America |
Intelsat 29e, also known asIS-29e was ahigh throughput (HTS)geostationarycommunications satellite designed and manufactured byBoeing Satellite Development Center on theBSS 702MPsatellite bus.[2][3] It is the first satellite of the Intelsat EpicNG service, and coversNorth America andLatin America from the 50° Westlongitude, where it replacedIntelsat 1R. It also replacedIntelsat 805 which was moved from 56.5° West to 169° East.[4][5] It has a mixedC-band,Ku-band andKa-band payload with all bands featuring wide and the Ku- also featuring spot beams.[2][3][6]It suffered a fuel leak in 2019 and declared a total loss.[7]
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The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by Boeing Satellite Development Center on the Boeing 702MP satellite bus.[2][3] It has a launch mass of 6,552 kg (14,445 lb) and a design life of more than 15 years.[8] When stowed for launch, the satellite measures 7.5 m × 3 m × 2 m (24.6 ft × 9.8 ft × 6.6 ft).[4][8]
It is powered by two wings, with foursolar panels each, oftriple-junctionGaAs solar cells, that span 44 m (144 ft) when deployed.[4][9] Intelsat 29e can generate 15.8kW at the end of its expected life and has fourLi-ion batteries.[4]
Thisthree axis stabilized platform has abi-propellant propulsion system usingNitrogen tetroxide (NTO) /N2O4. It has a 449 N (101 lbf)liquid apogee engine fororbit raising and 22 N (4.9 lbf) and 4 N (0.90 lbf) thrusters forstation keeping.[4] The propellant tanks hold approximately 1,550 kg (3,420 lb) of N2O4 and 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) of NTO.[10] This new series of geosynchronous satellites lack anEarth Sensor, and thus enterEarth pointing attitude based on the orbital position as determined by thestar tracker.[11]
Its payload is the firsthigh throughput EpicNG deployment, of the six planned as of January 2016.[12] The EpicNG is characterized by the implementation of frequency reuse due to a mix of frequency and polarization in small spot beams. Not only applied to the classical High-throughput satellite Ka-band, but also applying the same technique in Ku-band and C-band. The EpicNG series also keep the use of wide beams to offer high throughput and broadcast capabilities in the same satellite.[5]
The payload is designed and manufactured by Boeing based on the work of theWideband Global SATCOM (WGS) constellation.[13] It most innovative feature of this fully digital payload, is that it enables to dynamically link two sites through a single satellite without needing to go through a ground station.[5][12]
In the case of Intelsat-29e, the C-band side has 14 physicaltransponders with a bandwidth 864 MHz Ku- or 24transponder equivalent.[4] It covers South America in a wide beam.[6] The Ku-band has physical 56 transponders (249 transponder equivalent) for a total bandwidth of 9,395 MHz.[4] The Ku- spot beams cover the Americas and the North Atlantic route, while a wide beam can broadcast to North America and North Atlantic.[6] The Ka-band payload has 450 MHz of bandwidth on a global beam centered at its position.[4][6]
In July 2009,Intelsat became the first customer of theBoeing 702MP platform, when it placed an order for four spacecraft,Intelsat 21,Intelsat 22,Intelsat 27 and what would becomeIntelsat 29e.[9]
On 7 June 2012, Intelsat announced the EpicNG platform. It would improve available bandwidth due to the use of frequency reuse and polarization and feature spot and wide beams, enabling high bandwidth and broadcast applications on a backward compatible way. The first two satellites would be Intelsat 29e and Intelsat 33e.[14] On 4 September 2012, Intelsat and Boeing announced that Intelsat 29e, the first EpicNG satellite, would be made by Boeing on the 702MP platform, completing the 2009 order of four such satellites.[15]
In May 2013, Intelsat ordered a further four 702MP-based EpicNG satellites,Intelsat 32e,Intelsat 33e and two as of August 2016 unnamed spacecraft. And in July 2014, a sixth Epic was ordered,Intelsat 35e.[9][12] During 2013, Intelsat signed a contract to launch Intelsat 29e aboard anAriane 5.[16] Brian Sing, was assigned as Senior Program Manager for the launch aboard the rocket.[17]
During June 2015, the payload was integrated and went through testing. First it was deployed and stowed back, then it went throughsound environment andvibration testing, and finally deployment was tested again.[18] On 14 July 2015, the payload integration to thesatellite bus and its non-environmental testing was completed. It would then go through theenvironmental testing campaign which would start withthermal vacuum chamber tests.[13] It is a Boeing design based on the work of theWideband Global SATCOM (WGS) constellation.[13] On 10 December 2015, Intelsat announced that the launch date for Intelsat 29e had been set for 27 January 2016.[19]
After four years of project development, Intelsat 29e arrived to the launch site aboard anAntonov 124 on 11 December 2015.[20] At the site's Payload Processing Facility (PPF), Boeing technicians unpackaged the spacecraft and associated equipment and performed a quick fit check.[21] On the second weeks of January 2016, the satellite was fueled and installed in the rocket payload adapter.[10][22] By 21 January 2016, the spacecraft had been moved to the Final Assembly Building where it was mated to the launcher rocket.[23] On 26 January 2016, all checks were completed and the launch review for the next day was completed.[16]
On 27 January 2016, at 23:20 UTC, anAriane 5 ECA launched from theELA-3 launch pad at theCentre Spatial Guyanais.[2][12] Intelsat 29e, its only passenger, separated 30 minutes later, and the satellite first signals were received shortly afterwards by the Kumsan,South Korea, ground station.[24][25] The next two days were spent evaluating the health of the satellite and determining the exact orbit, then a series of nine orbital maneuvers to raise the perigee to 35,786 km (22,236 mi) were started.[26][27] This orbit circularization would consume approximately 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) of propellant.[10]
When it reached its test position at 49.7° West, it deployed its antennas and solar panels.[11] In a 28 March 2016, it was announced that Intelsat 29e had successfully passed the 30-day payload in-orbit testing (PIOT) and was undergoing the first performance testing with an anchor customer. It had been particularly challenging because it was the first digital configurable payload for Intelsat, and they had to also test the ground segment for the first time.[28]
On 7 April 2019, the propulsion system of Intelsat 29e developed a fuel leak. Service to customers was interrupted, and communication with the satellite intermittent.[29] On 8 April 2019, the ground telescopes of ExoAnalytic Solutions spotted debris around Intelsat 29e. IS-29e is currently tumbling and drifting to the East.[30] Intelsat issued a statement declaring the satellite a total loss on 18 April 2019.[31] The failure was later attributed to two possible causes. The first was a micrometeorite impact. The second possible cause was said to be a combination of a short circuit caused by solar activity and harness issue within the spacecraft.[32][33] The loss of IS-29e would be followed up on 19 October 2024 by the break-up ofIS-33e, another one of Intelsat’s EpicNG (next-generation) satellites. As of current, any correlation between the two incidents remains to be determined.[34]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.