Thuraya will launch its second satellite into orbit on June 10. The Thuraya 2 satellite will potentially operate alongside the Thuraya 1, enhancing network flexibility and augmenting the quality and range of services offered by Thuraya.
The Thuraya 2 satellite will be sent into orbit by Sea Launch, the company which in 2000, successfully placed Thuraya-1. After that successful launch, the system began commercial operations a few months later.
Sea Launch has already begun preparations for launch of the Thuraya payload, its first mission this year. Sea Launch will be lifting the 5,212 kilogram communications satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned on the Equator.
The second Thuraya satellite, being built by Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo, California, is part of the high-powered Boeing geo mobile spacecraft system which comprises the Thuraya-2, the Thuraya 1, and ground spare Thuraya-3.
The Sea Launch team will place the Thuraya-2 satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, with the spacecraft separating from the upper stage at 1,388 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Launching from its equatorial launch site at 154 degrees West Longitude, Sea Launch will insert the spacecraft directly into the required 6.3-degree inclined orbit, an optimal orbital location for the Thuraya system.
Designed for a 12-15 year lifespan, the satellite will be positioned in Geosynchronous Orbit, 35,786 kilometers above the Earth, at 44 degrees East Longitude and inclined at 6.3 degrees. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
