| Names | IS-15 / JSCAT-85 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Communications |
| Operator | Intelsat /SKY Perfect JSAT Group |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-067A |
| SATCATno. | 36106 |
| Website | Intelsat JSAT |
| Mission duration | 15 years |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | IS-15 |
| Bus | Star-2.4 |
| Manufacturer | Orbital Sciences |
| Launch mass | 2,484 kg (5,476 lb) |
| Dry mass | 1,227 kg (2,705 lb) |
| Power | 4.6 kW |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 21:00, November 30, 2009 (UTC) (2009-11-30T21:00:00Z) |
| Rocket | Zenit-3SLB |
| Launch site | Baikonur45/1 |
| Contractor | Land Launch |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Geostationary |
| Longitude | 85° east |
| Semi-major axis | 42,164.0 km (26,199.5 mi) |
| Perigee altitude | 35,786.0 km (22,236.4 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 35,800.9 km (22,245.6 mi) |
| Inclination | 0° |
| Period | 1,436.1 minutes |
| Epoch | May 07, 2018[1] |
| Transponders | |
| Band | 22 (+8 spares)Ku band |
| Coverage area | Russia,Near East,Indian Ocean |
Intelsat 15, also known asIS-15, is acommunications satellite owned byIntelsat. Intelsat 15 was built byOrbital Sciences Corporation, on aStar-2.4.[2] It is located at 85° E longitude on thegeostationary orbit. It was launched fromBaikonur Cosmodrome to ageosynchronous transfer orbit on 30 November 2009 by aZenit-3SLB launch vehicle.[3][4] It has 22 activeKu bandtransponders, plus eight spares. Five of those transponders are owned and operated bySKY Perfect JSAT Group under the nameJCSAT-85.[5][2]
Intelsat 15 is a3 axis stabilizedgeostationarycommunications satellite based on theStar-2.4satellite bus. It weighed 2,484 kg (5,476 lb) at launch, had a dry mass of 1,227 kg (2,705 lb), and a design life 15 years.[6][7] It had a power availability dedicated to the payload of 4.6 kW, due to itsmulti-junctionGaAssolar cells. It also had two 4840 watt hourLi-ion batteries for surviving the solar eclipses.[6]
The satellite used abipropellant propulsion system with anIHI BT-4Liquid Apogee Engine fororbit circularization and thrusters andreaction wheels forstation keeping andattitude control.[6][2] It was filled with enough propellant for 15 years, but due to the efficient launch and transfer 17 are expected.[2]
Its payload is composed two 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) deployable dual grid reflectors, plus one 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) deck mounted reflector. They are fed by 22 activeKu bandtransponders, plus eight spares. Intelsat uses 17 transponders, which have a bandwidth of twenty 36 MHztransponder equivalents.[6][2] Its footprint is arranged in a Russia beam and a Middle East beam.[8]SKY Perfect JSAT Group owns five physical transponders under the nameJCSAT-85, four have a bandwidth of 36 MHz and the other one has 72 MHz. JSCAT-85 footprint is arranged in two beams, West IOR Beam, covering middle East and the Arabic Sea, and East IOR Beam, covering the Eastern Asia coast and Pacific Ocean.[5][9]
On April 2, 2007,JSAT Corporation (nowSKY Perfect JSAT Group) announced an agreement to purchase a payload consisting of five transponders on the yet to be builtIntelsat 15. Intelsat and JSAT had already collaborated on theHorizons-1 andHorizons-2 satellites. The satellite, also known asIS-15, would provide services to the Asia-Pacific, Indian Ocean and Middle East regions from the 85°E longitude on thegeostationary orbit, where it would replaceIntelsat 709. It would have 22 Ku band transponders in total and a design life of 15 years.[10] The JSAT payload would be known as JCSAT-85.[9]
On May 1, 2007,Orbital Sciences Corporation (nowOrbital ATK) announced that it had been awarded a contract to manufacture Intelsat 15. It would be based on theSTAR-2satellite bus, generate 4.6 kW of power for its 22-transponder Ku band payload and had an expected launch date of early 2009.[11]
On February 26, 2008,Sea Launch announce a contract with Intelsat to launch two satellites manufactured by Orbital Corporation, Intelsat 15 andIntelsat 16. The contract was itself a renegotiation for repurpose two already existing reservation by Intelsat with Sea Launch for two satellites to these new spacecraft. They were expected to be launched by theLand Launch service, which usedZenit-3SLB rockets from theBaikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, during 2009.[12]
Between October 27 and November 5, 2009 Intelsat 15 was processed in the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On November 6, it was filled with propellant.[13] On November 24, 2009, JSAT announced that the launch of Intelsat 15 was expected on November 29 at 1:00 UTC.[14] But during the launch attempt on November 29, the automatic prelaunch issued an abort command.[15][13] But the launch committee agreed to make a second attempt on the next day.[13]
On November 30, 2009, at 21:00 UTC, the Zenit-3SLB successfully launched Intelsat 15, fromBaikonur Cosmodrome Site 45. After a six and a half hour mission, theDM-3SLB successfully separated the spacecraft and at 03:28 UTC, first signals from spacecraft were received.[16][17] The launch put the satellite with margins of its plannedgeosynchronous transfer orbit with aperigee of 10,286 km, anapogee of 35,790 km and a 12° inclination to the Equator.[13]
