Sirius 1 / Sirius W

Analoguesat

Sirius 1 started out life as MarcoPolo 1 (BSB1) and was launched on August 27, 1989

Marcopolo 1 was acquired in-orbit from the mothballed BSB (British Satellite Broadcasting) by Nordiska Satellitaktiebolaget in 1993, and operated as Sirius 1 at 5E until 2000

Attached Images

	fsiri1r.gif (21.0 KB, 22 views)
	fsiri1sr.gif (23.9 KB, 19 views)

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Analoguesat's message to the world Analogue forever! RIP BBC2 analogue on all Scottish Borders transmitters, switched off 0031GMT November 6th 2008 Final analogue switch off from all Scottish Borders transmitters - BBC1 ITV C4 & C5 - 0010GMT November 20th 2008.

Analoguesat

SIRIUS W
SIRIUS 1 was the pioneer in the SIRIUS programme. It joined the first Nordic satellite, Tele-X, at 5E East geostationary orbit.


SIRIUS W History
The British company BSB launched it in 1989 under the name Marco Polo 1. At the end of 1993, NSAB bought the satellite and moved it to 5°East. Renamed SIRIUS 1, it started operations in 1994. The DTH services on SIRIUS 1 were transferred to SIRIUS 3 at the beginning of 2000 and SIRIUS 1 was successfully moved to the orbital position 13° West.

In order to emphasise the new orbital position, it was renamed again, this time as SIRIUS W.The orbital repositioning started on 11 April when on-board thrusters increased the speed of the satellite. This took the satellite to a new orbit, well above the 36,000-km orbit normal for geostationary satellites. The satellite slowly and safely drifted towards the new position with a speed of approximately one degree/day.

On 30 April, the satellite reached its new position and the speed was decreased by thrusters under the control of the satellite station in Esrange in the north of Sweden. SIRIUS W had five high-power DBS transponders. In order to save fuel, the satellite was operated in an "inclined orbit", requiring ground stations with satellite tracking for communication with the satellite. SIRIUS W was used for Internet Backbone services in Eastern Europe.

SIRIUS W Facts
Orbital position: 13.0°W
Coverage: Nordic countries and parts of eastern Europe
Type: HS 376, spin stabilized
Mass in orbit: 660 kg (1453 lb)
Dimension Body: 2.162 x 7.25 m
Launched: 27 August, 1989
End of life: May 2003
Operational lifetime: 10 years (> 13 years for inclined orbit operation)
Transponders: 5 BSS
Frequency band: 11.7-12.5 GHz
Transponder bandwidth: 27 MHz
Polarization: Right hand circular
EIRP: 56-59 dBW

In May 2003 SIRIUS W was sent to its graveyard orbit.

Attached Images

sirius-w.gif (12.0 KB, 12 views)

__________________

Analoguesat's message to the world Analogue forever! RIP BBC2 analogue on all Scottish Borders transmitters, switched off 0031GMT November 6th 2008 Final analogue switch off from all Scottish Borders transmitters - BBC1 ITV C4 & C5 - 0010GMT November 20th 2008.