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Oldest Satellite Retied by Intelsat
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After 32 years of serving ships at sea and scientists at the South Pole, an aging communications satellite owned by Intelsat has been retired by the company.
The Marisat F2 satellite, manufactured by Hughes Aircraft and launched in 1976, had only a five-year design life. Still, the "Little Satellite That Could" remained in operation through this year, and is believed to have been the oldest commercial communications satellite still actively operating in space.
Engineers at Intelsat General, responsible for managing the orbit of the satellite, recently determined that its support sub-systems were nearing the end of operating life. To prevent Marisat F2 from drifting into the path of other satellites, Intelsat decommissioned the bird on Oct. 29.
The final assignment of Marisat F2 was providing internet service to research scientists stationed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Of the three satellites dedicated to serving the National Science Foundation's research operations at the pole, Marisat F2 had the second biggest bandwidth capacity for internet service and was available for use most hours everyday, the company said.
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After 32 years of serving ships at sea and scientists at the South Pole, an aging communications satellite owned by Intelsat has been retired by the company.
The Marisat F2 satellite, manufactured by Hughes Aircraft and launched in 1976, had only a five-year design life. Still, the "Little Satellite That Could" remained in operation through this year, and is believed to have been the oldest commercial communications satellite still actively operating in space.
Engineers at Intelsat General, responsible for managing the orbit of the satellite, recently determined that its support sub-systems were nearing the end of operating life. To prevent Marisat F2 from drifting into the path of other satellites, Intelsat decommissioned the bird on Oct. 29.
The final assignment of Marisat F2 was providing internet service to research scientists stationed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Of the three satellites dedicated to serving the National Science Foundation's research operations at the pole, Marisat F2 had the second biggest bandwidth capacity for internet service and was available for use most hours everyday, the company said.