ots-esa press kit

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NASA NewsNational Aeronautlcs andSpace Administration

Washington.D C 20546AC 202 755 -8370

For Release I M M E D I A T E

PressKit Project OTSIESA

R E L E A S E N O : 77-168

Contents

G E N E R A L R E L E A S E . . .................................. 1-5

D E L T A L A U N C H V E H I C L E ( 3 9 1 4 ) ........................ 6

D E L T A 3 9 1 4 F A C T S AND F I G U R E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7- 8

L A U N C H O P E R A T I O N S . . ................................ 9

L A U N C H S E Q U E N C E F O R O T S . . .......................... 10

D E L T A / O T S L A U NC H T E A M . .. ........................... 1 1 - 1 2

C O N T R A C T O R S ........................................ 12

Mailed:

August 10, 1977

. . .



c

N,ition,tl Aeronautics and

S p m ?Admlnistratlon

Washington DC 20546AC, 202 755 8370

Dav id G a r r e t t

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

(Phone: 2 0 2 / 7 5 5 - 3 0 9 0 )

Joseph McRoberts

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

(Phone: 3 0 1 / 9 8 2 - 4 9 5 5 )

RELEASE NO: 77-168

NASA TO LAUNCH TEST SATELLITE FOR EUROPEAN COMMUNICATIONS

The forerunner of a European operational communications

satellite network of the 1 9 8 0 s is scheduled to be launched

by NASA for the European Space Agency (ESA) no earlier than

Sept. 9 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a Delta 3 9 1 4 launch

vehicle.

This new type of communications spacecraft is one of two

experimental models built by ESA to test the satellite's per-

formance in orbit. Its operational descendents are expected

to provide satellite links in the 1980s for routing portions

of the intra-European telephone, telegraph and telex traffic

as well as television relay for Western Europe.

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August 10, 1 9 7 7



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Called Orbital Test Satellite ( O T S ) , the new spacecraft

is built on a modular concept for easy adaptability, thus

reducing costs as new requirements or technological advances

appear.

Initially, O T S will provide experimental and pre-operational

traffic capability for one or two television channels and two

to five thousand telephone circuits. Coverage from its on-

station position at 10 degrees E. longitude above the equator

over West Africa will include the whole of Western Europe,

the Middle East, North Africa, the Azores, Canary Islands,

Madeira and Iceland.

The OTS satellite is expected to be valuable for such

difficult communications tasks as establishing communications

links with areas of difficult access such as off shore oil

rigs. Oil exploration in Europe is now limited mainly to

work in the North Sea, but is expected to extend throughout

the European continental shelf. Other potential applications

are educational television, teleconferencing and radio

broadcasting.

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The operational system calls for satellite transmission

of from a third to half of the telephone traffic between

West European capitals located more than 800 kilometers

(496 miles) apart during the 1980s. The system is planned

to carry 5,000 phone circuits in 1980, increasing to 20,000

in 1990.

There will be at least one large Earth station handling

telephone traffic and television transmissions in each country

requiring satellite services. ESA eventually plans to have

a number of Earth stations to handle television transmissions

exclusively in North Africa and the Middle East.

OTS components include a payload module, a service module

and an antenna assembly. The solar array folds out from the

sides. By arranging components of the spacecraft in separate

compartments alternate payloads can be put in place easily

and economically.

In keeping with the modular concept, the spacecraft's

appearance is box-like, with oblique ends. It weighs 865

kilograms (1,845 pounds),including Apogee Boost MotorCABM)

at launch, is 1.62 meters (7.2 feet) wide, 2.39 m (6.9 ft.)

high and 9.26 m (28.2 ft.) across with deployed solar array.

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I t w i l l be i n j e c t e d i n t o a s yn ch ro no us t r a n s f e r o r b i t

of ab o ut 38,275 km (22 ,54 0 m i . ) ap og ee , 185 km (11 5 m i . )

p e r i g e e a n d 2 7 . 4 d e g re e i n c l i n a t i o n . On t h e f i f t h ap oge e

r o u g h l y 4 0 h o u rs a f t e r l au n c h, when t h e s p a c e c r a f t i s o v e r

t h e m i d - A t la n t i c, t h e s p a c e c r a f t a po ge e k i c k mo to r w i l l be

f i r e d t o c i r c u l a r i z e t h e o r b i t . F r o m t h e re i t w i l l be

a l lowed t o d r i f t s e v e r a l de gr ee s p e r d ay u n t i l it a r r i v e s

a t i t s o n - s ta t i on p o s i t i o n a t 1 0 d e g r e e s E . l o n g i t u d e a b o v e

t h e equa tor .

T h e apogee k i c k m o t o r f i r i n g w i l l be c o n t r o l l e d f r o m

t h e E u ro pe an S p a c e O p e r a t i o n s C e n t e r ( E S O C ) , Darmstadt ,

W e s t Germany, which i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a l l t r a c k i n g a n d

d a t a re co ve ry a c t i v i t i e s a f t e r t h e s p a c e c r a f t r ea c h es t r a n s f e r

o r b i t . Launch v e h i c l e t r a c k i n g as well a s e a r l y o r b i t sp ace -

c r a f t t r a c k i n g w i l l b e p r o v i d e d b y N A S A ' s Space Tracking and

Data Network (STDN) w i t h a l l s p a c e c r a f t d a t a s e n t s im ul-

t a n e o u s l y t o ESOC.

T h e s p a c e c r a f t w a s b u i l t u nd er t h e s u p e r vi s i on of th e

E ur op ea n S p a ce A gency b y i n d u s t r i e s i n 1 0 E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s :

Belg ium, Denmark , Fran ce , Germany, I t a l y , Ne th er l an ds , Sweden,

Sw i t z e r l an d , t h e Un i t ed Kingeom and Spa in.

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ESA gave direct responsibility for building the satellite

to Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, Britain, as prime contractor.

They were supported by a team of co and subcontractors from

the other countries mentioned above.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,

provides technical direction of the Delta project for the

Office of Space Flight. McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co.,

Huntington Beach, Calif., is the prime contractor. All

reasonable costs for the Delta, launch support including

launch services and tracking support, are reimbursable by

ESA. Such costs are expected to total about $16.1 million.

(END OF GENERAL RELEASE. BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS.)

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D E L T A LAUNCH V E H I C L E (3914)

F i r s t S t a g e

The f i r s t s t a g e i s a McDonnell Douglas modified Thorb o o s t e r i n c o r p o r a t i n g n i n e s t ra p - o n T h io k ol s o l i d - f u e lr o c k e t motors. The booster i s powered by a Rocketdynee n g i n e u s i n g l i q u i d o xy gen and l i q u i d h yd ro ca rb on p r o p e l -l a n t s . The main engine i s g im ba l-m ou nte d t o p r o v i d e p i t c hand yaw c o n t r o l from l i f t o f f t o main e n g i n e c u t o f f (MECO) .

Second Stage

The second s t age is powered by a TRW l i q u i d - f u e l , p r e s s u r e-f e d e n g i n e t h a t a l s o i s g im ba l-m ou nte d t o p r o v i d e p i t c h andyaw c o n t r o l t h r o u g h t h e s ec o nd s t a g e b ur n . A n i t r o g e n g a ss ys te m u s e s e i g h t f i x e d n oz z l e s f o r r o l l c o n t r o l d u r i n g

pow ered and c o a s t f l i g h t , a s w e l l a s p i t c h a nd yaw c o n t r o ld u r i n g c o a s t and a f t e r s eco nd s t a g e c u t o f f s . Two f i x e dn o z z l e s , f e d by t h e p r o p e l l a n t t a n k , hel ium p r e s s u r i z a t i o ns ys tem , p r o vi de r e t r o t h r u s t a f t e r t h i r d s t a g e s e p ar a t i on .

T h i r d S t a g e

The t h i r d s t a g e i s t h e TE-364-4 s p i n - s t a b i l i z e d , s o l i dp r o p e l l a n t T h i o k o l m o t o r . I t i s s e c u r e d i n t h e s p in t a b l emounted t o t h e s e c o n d s t a g e . The f i r i n g of e i g h t s o l i d pro-p e l l a n t r o c k e t s f i x e d t o t h e s p i n t a b l e a c c om p l is h e s sp i n- upof t h e t h i r d s t a g e s p a c e c r a f t a sse mb ly .

I n j e c t i o n I n t o S yn ch ro no us O r b i t

The D e l ta v e h i c l e \.rill i n j e c t OTS i n t o a t r a n s f e r o r b i t .NASA t r a c k i n g and da t a a c q u i s i t i o n r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s w i l lc on t i nu e u n t i l a f t e r ABM f i r i n g when o r b i t d e f i n i t i o n i s

agreed be tween NASA and E S A . Command, c o n t ro l , t r a c k in g andd a t a a n a l y s i s t h e n b ecome t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of t h e EuropeanS p ac e O p e r a t i o n s C e n t e r , D a r m s ta d t , W e s t Germany.

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DELTA 3 9 1 4 FACTS A N D FIGURES

Height : 35 .4 m ( 1 1 6 f t . ) i n c l u d i n g s h r o ud

M a x i m u m D i a m e t e r : 2 . 4 m ( 8 f t . ) w i t h o u t

a t ta c h e d s o l i d s

L i f t o f f Weight : 190 ,742 kg (420,5 15 lb.)

L i f to f f Thr us t : 2 ,464 ,200 newtons (555 ,000 lb.)i n c l u d i n g s t ra p -o n s o l i d s

F i r s t S t a ge

( L i q u id o n l y ) c o n s i s t s o f a n e x te n d e d lo n g -t a nk T h or ,pro duc ed by McDonnell Dou glas. The RS-27 e n g in e s a re pro-duced by t h e Rocke tdyne Div i s i on of R o c k w e l l I n t e r n a t i o n a l .The s t a g e h a s t h e f o ll o w in g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s :

D i a m e t e r : 2 . 4 m ( 8 f t . )

Height : 21 .3 m (70 f t . )

P r o p e l l a n t s : R J - 1 k e r o s e n e a s t h e f u e l and l i q u i doxygen ( L O X ) a s t h e o x i d i z e r

T h r u s t : 912,000 N (205,000 lb.)

Burning T i m e : About 3.48 mi nu tes

Weight: About 84,600 k g (186,500 l b . ) e x c l u d i n g

s t r a p - o n solids

C a s to r I V s tr ap -o n s o l i d s c o n s i s t of n i n e TX 526 ao l i d -p r o p e l l a n t r o c k e t s p ro du ce d by t he Th ioko l Chemica l Corp . ,w i t h t h e f o ll o w in g f e a t u r e s :

D i ame t e r : 0.8 m ( 3 1 in.)

Heigh t : 7 m (23 f t . )

T o t a l W e igh t : 9,798 kg (21,600 l b . ) f o r n i n e1 ,088 kg ( 2,400 lb.) f o r e a c h

Thrus t : 3 ,413 ,700 N (74 ,432 lb.) f o r n i ne379,299 N ( 8,315 lb.) f o r e a ch

Burning T i m e : 58 seconds

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Second Stacre

Produced by McDonnell Douglas A s t ro na u t i cs Co., u s i n ga TRW TR-201 r o c k e t e ng i n e ; m ajo r c o n t r a c t o r s f o r t h ev e h i c l e i n e r t i a l g uid an ce s ys te m l o c a t e d o n t h e se co nd

s t ag e a re Hami l ton S t anda rd , Te l edyne and Delco.

P r o p e l l a n t s : L i q u id , c o n s i s t s o f A er oz en e 50 f o r

t h e f u e l and n i t r o g e n t e t r o x i d e ( N 2 0 4 )f o r t h e o x i d iz e r .

D i a m e t e r : 1.5 m ( 5 f t . ) p l u s 2 . 4 m (8 f t . )

a t t a c h e d r i n g

He igh t : 6 . 4 m ( 2 1 ft.)

Weight : 6 ,118 kg (13,596 l b . )

Th ru s t : About 42 ,943 N ( 9 , 6 5 0 lb.)

To t a l Burning T ime : 335 seconds

T h i r d S t a g e

Th ioko l Chemica l Co. TE-364-4 motor.

P r o p e l l a n t : S o l i d

D i a m e t e r : 1 m ( 3 f t . )

Weight : 1 ,152 kg ( 2 , 5 6 0 l b . )

T h r u s t : 6 1 , 8 5 5 N (13 ,900 1b.I

Burning T i m e : 4 4 s e c o n d s

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LAUNCH OPERATIONS

The Kennedy Space C en te r ' s Expendable Ve hic les D i r e c -

t o r a t e p l a y s a k e y r o l e i n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n a nd l a u n ch oft h e t h r u s t - a u g m e n t e d D e l t a r o c k e t c a r r y i n g O T S .

D el t a 134 w i l l be l aunched f r o m Pad A , n o r t h e r n m o s tof t h e t w o l aunch pads a t Complex 1 7 , Cape Canavera l A i r

Force S t a t i o n .

The D e l t a f i r s t s t a g e and i n t e r s t a g e w e r e e r e c t e d onPad A July 1 2 . The second s t a g e was e r e c t e d J u l y 1 5 andt h e n i n e s o l i d s t r a p - o n r o c k e t motors w e r e mounted i np l a c e a r ou nd t h e b a s e of t h e f i r s t s t a g e J u ly 25, 2 6 and 2 7 .

The OTS s p a c e c r a f t a r r i v e d a t Kennedy Center May 9

and underwent i t s i n i t i a l c heckou t a t Hangar F a t CapeC a n a v e r a l A i r Force S t a t i o n . I t w i l l be moved t o t h e D e l t a

Spin T e s t F a c i l i t y A u g . 2 2 and w i l l b e m a t e d w i t h t h e D el t at h i r d s t a g e Aug; 30.

The t h i r d s t a g e / s p a c e c r a f t a ss em bl y w i l l be moved t o t h epad and mated wi th D e l t a 134 Sep t ; 1. T h e p a y l o a d f a i r i n gwhich i s t o p r o t e c t t h e s p a c e c r a f t on i t s f l i g h t th ro ug hthe a tm osphere i s t o b e p u t i n p l a c e S ep t. 6.

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LAUNCH SEQUENCE FOR OTS

Altitude

Event Time Kilometers/Miles

Liftoff 0 sec. 0 0

Five Solid Motor Burnout 5 7 sec. 10 6

Four Solid Motor Ignition 1 min. 4 sec. 11 7

Three Solid Motor Jettison 1 min. 4 sec. 11 7

Two Solid Motor Jettison 1 min. 5 sec. 13 8

Four S o l i d Motor Burnout 2 min. 2 sec. 41 26

Four Solid Motor Jettison 2 min. 7 sec. 4 6 24

Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) 3 min. 48 sec. 1 0 9 68

First/Second Stage

Separation

113 7 0min. 5 6 sec.

Second Stage Ignition 4 min. 1 sec. 116 7 2

Fairing Jettison 4 min. 22 sec. 126 7 9

Second Stage Cutoff (SECO) 8 min. 21 sec. * 158 99

Second Stage Restart 20 min. 40 sec. 1 7 7 111

SECO 2 21 min. 1 7 sec. 1 7 9 1 1 2

Third Stage Spinup

Second/Third Stage

Separation

22 min. 7 sec. 180 113

22 min. 8 sec. 1 7 9 112

Third Stage Ignition 22 min. 50 sec. 184 115

Third Stage Burnout 23 min. 33 sec. 190 119

Third Stage/Spacecraft 24 min. 46 sec. 2 3 0 144

Separation

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DELTA/OTS LAUNCH TEAM

European Space Agency

Roy Gibson

Wal te r Luksch

D r . Rene C. L. C O l l e t t e

B r i a n S t o c k w e l l

G. W. D u r l i n g

NASA H e a d a u a r t e r s

John F. Yard l ey

Joseph B. Mahon

Pe t e r T. E a t o n

Goddard Space F l i gh t C e n t e r

D r . R o b e r t S. Cooper

Rober t E. Smylie

D r . W i l l i a m C. S c h n e i d e r

C h a r l e s R. Gunn

W i l l i a m R. R u s s e l l

Rober t G o s s

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Direc tor Genera l

Dire c to r o f Corrmunications

Manager of F ixed Serv ice

Communications Programs

OTS Pro j ec t Manage r

OTS Sp a c e c r a ft Manager

Assoc ia t e A d m i n i s t r a t o rf o r S pace F l i g h t

D i r e c t o r o f E x pe n da b leLaunch Vehicle Programs

Manager, D el ta Program

D i r e c t o r

Deputy D i r e c t o r

D i r e c t o r o f P r o j e c t s

Management

Del ta P r o j e c t Manager

Deputy De l t a P r o j e c t Manager,T e c h n i c a l

C h i e f , M i s s io n A n a l y s i sa nd I n t e g r a t i o n B r an ch ,

D e l ta P r o j e c t O f f i c e



-12-

Goddard Ce nte r (Cont 'd . 1Frank Lawrence

Jack Yudd

Raymond Mazur

Kennedy Space Center

L e e R. S c h e r e r

G e r a l d D. G r i f f i n

D r . Walter J . Kapryan

George F. Page

Hugh A. Weston, J r .

B e r t L. G r e n v i l l e

John Dunn

D e l t a M i ss io n I n t e g r a t i o nManager

M i s s i o n O p e r a t i o n s a n d

Network Su pp or t Manager

Miss ion Suppor t

D i r e c t o r

D e p u t y D i r e c t o r

D i r e c t o r , S p a c e Vehic les

O p e r a t i o n s

D i r e c t o r , E x p e n d a b l e V e h i c l e s

C h i e f , D e l t a O p e r a t i o n sD i v i s i o n

Complex 1 7 Opera t ions Manager

S p a c e c r a f t C o o r d i n a t o r

CONTRACTORS

Hawker Si dd e le y Dynamics S pa ce cr af t (pr im e)

United Kingdom

AEG-Telef unkenGermany

A e r i t a l i a , I t a l y

Communicat ions payload(p r ime)

S p a c e c r a f t c o - c o n t r a c t o r

ERNO, Germany Sp ac ec ra f t co -co n t r ac t o r

M a t ra , F r an c e S p a c e c r a f t c o - c o n t r a c t o r

SAAB, Sw eden S p a c e c r a f t c o - c o n t r a c t o r

McDonnell DouglasA s t r o n a u t i c s C o .

Hunt ing ton Beach, C a l i f .

D e l t a l a u n c h v e h i c l e

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