4.

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration
Washington. D C 20546
AC 202 755-8370

For Release IMMEDIATE

Press Kit Project FLTSATCOM-C

RELEASE NO: 79-155

Contents
GENERAL RELEASE .....................................
1-3
ATLAS CENTAUR LAUNCH VEHICLE ........................
4
LAUNCH VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
......................5
LAUNCH OPERATIONS.....................................
6
LAUNCH SEQUENCE FOR FLTSATC:OM-C
.....................7
THE NASA FLTSATCOM TEAM ..............................
8

November 21, 1979

- - =ve_4
 gw\ News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Washington DC 20546
AC 202 755-8370

Jim Kukowski For Release

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone: 202/755-3090) IMMEDIATE

Laurence H. Boles
Lewis Research Center,
(Phone: Cleveland, Ohio
216/433-4000 Ext.
415)

RELEASE NO: 79-155

THIRD FLTSATCOM TO
BE LAUNCHED

The third of five

FLTSATCOM communications
satellites
will be launched
by NASA from the
Kennedy Space Center,
no earlier than Fla.,
Tuesday, Dec. 4,
1979. The Department
Defense satellite of
is intended for
service over the
western
Pacific Ocean.

FLTSATCO1-C will
be placed in a geostationary
orbit
at 172 degrees cast
longitude above
the equator, where
will provide two-way it
communications
in the 240 to 400
frequency band, MHz
between any two
points on Earth
visible from
its orbital location.
The spacecraft has
a design life of
five years.

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 -2-

The FLTSATCOM program

is managed by the Naval
Electronic
Systems Command. The
Air Force Space Division
is responsible
for production, launch
vehicle/spacecraft integration
and
tracking and data acquisition.

The FLTSATCoM satellites

are the spaceborne portion
of
a worldwide Navy, Air
Force and Department of
Defense communi-
cations system that enables
communicating between
naval air-
craft, ships, submarines,
ground stations, Strategic
Air Com-
mand elements and presidential
command networks.

The satellite system will

provide 23 ultra high
fre
quency communication channels
and one super high frequency
channel.

This will be the 52nd

launch of an Atlas Centaur,
NASA's
standard launch vehicle
for intermediate-weight
payloads.
The first Atlas Centaur
was launched May 8, 1962.

NASA is reimbursed for

all additive costs of
the Atlas
Centaur and launch services
by the Department of Defense
under provisions of a
launch services agreement.

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 -3-

The Atlas Centaur (AC-49) launch vehicle will place

FLTSATCOM-C into a highly elliptical orbit of 167

by 35,970
kilometers (104 by 22,351 miles). After reorientation of
the satellite, a solid propellant rocket motor aboard
the
spacecraft will be fired to circularize the orbit
at a syn-
chronous altitude of 35,788 km (22,237 mi.). At that alti-
tude, because the speed of the spacecraft in orbit
matches
the rotational speed of the Earth, the satellite
remains in
position over one spot on the equator.

NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, has

management responsibility for the Atlas Centaur

development
and operation. NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is assigned
vehicle checkout and launch responsibility once
the vehicle
reaches Cape Canaveral.

The FLTSATCOM satellites, built in Redondo Beach,

Calif., by the Defense and Space Systems Group of

TRW, Inc.,
are 6.7 meters (22 feet) tall and weigh 1,1'76 kilograms
(4,136 pounds) at liftoff and 1,005 kg (2,216 lb.)
after
apogee motor firing.

(END OF GENERAL RELEASE; DETAILED INFORMATION FOLLOWS)

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, -'a -. O . &-~ --
 -4-

ATLAS CENTAUR LAUNCH VEHICLE

The Atlas Centaur is NASA's standard

intermediate weight payloads. launch vehicle for
It is used for the launch of
Earth orbital, Earth synchronous and
interplanetary missions.
Centaur was the nation's first high
hydrogen/liquid-oxygen propelled rocket. energy, liquid-
launched under the direction of NASA's Developed and
it became operational in 1966 with Lewis Research Center,
the launch of Surveyor 1,
the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land
on the Moon's surface.
Since that time, both the Atlas booster
second stage have undergone many improvements. and Centaur
the vehicle combination can place At present,
4,536 kg (10,000 lb.) in
low Earth orbit, 1,882 kg (4,150 lb.)
transfer orbit and 907 kg (2,000 lb.) in a synchronous
trajectory. on an interplanetary

The Atlas Centaur, standing approximately

ft.) high, consists of an Atlas SLV-3D 39.9 m (131
D-lAR second stage. The Atlas booster booster and Centaur
newtons (431,300 lb.) of thrust at develops 1,920 kilo-
newton (185,000-lb.) thrust booster liftoff using two 822,920-
(60,000-lb.) thrust sustainer engine engines, one
2 6 6,890-N

developing 2,890 N (650 lb.) thrust and two vernier engines

engines on Centaur produce a total each. The two RL-10
of 133,450 N (30,000 lb,.)
thrust. Both the Atlas and the Centaur
diameter. are 3 m (10 ft.) in

Until early 1974, Centaur was used

bination with the Atlas booster. exclusively in com-
with a Titan III booster to launch It was subsequently used
heavier
Earth orbit and interplanetary trajectories.payloads into

The Atlas and the Centaur vehicles

over the years. Thrust of the Atlas have been updated
creased about 22,400 N (50,000 lb.) engines has been in-
in the space program in the early since their first use
1960s.
The Centaur D-lAR has an integrated
that performs a major role in checking electronic system
vehicle systems before launch and itself and other
of major events after liftoff. The also maintains control
new Centaur system
handles navigation and guidance tasks,
controls pressuri-
zation and venting, propellant management,
mats and transmission and initiates telemetry for-
vehicle
operational needs can be met by changing events. Most
software. the computer

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... , W..-
 -5-

LAUNCH VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS

Liftoff weight including spacecraft: 148..591.4 kg

(327,503 lb.)

Liftoff height: 39.9 m (131 ft.)

L aunch Complex: 36A

Atlas Booster Centaur Stage

Weight (with 130,450 kg 17,671.1 kg

propellants) (287,594 lb.) (38,953 lb.)

Height 21.3 m (70 ft.) 18.6 m (61 ft.)

with payload
fairing

Thrust 1,919 kn 133,447 N

(431,300 lb.) (30,000 lb.)
at sea level in vacuum

Propellants Liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen and

and RP-1 liquid hydrogen

Propulsion MA-5 system two Two 66,723-N

822,921-N (185,000- (15,000-lb.)
lb.) thrust booster thrust RL-10 engines
engines, one 12 small hydrogen
266,893-N (60,000- peroxide thrusters.
lb.) thrust sus-
tainer engine, two
2,891-N (650-1L.)
thrust vernier engires.

Velocity 8,730 km/)ir (5,424 35,026 km/hr

mph) at booster (21,764 mph) at
engine cutoff (BECO), spacecraft
12,967 km/hr (8,071 separation.
mph) at sustainer
engine cutoff (SECO).

Guidance Preprogrammed profile Inertial guidance.

through BECO. Switch
to inertial guidance
for sustainer phase.

-m~orea-
 -6-

LPAUNCH OPERATIONS

NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center is

for the preparation and launch of the Atlas responsible
which will carry FLTSATCOM into orbit. Centaur AC-49

The Atlas and Centaur stages of the AC-49

vehicle arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force launch
August and were erected on Pad A, Complex Station in
36,
Following completion of electrical, pneumatic, that month.
propulsion and guidance system checkout and hydraulic,
testing, a
Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test was
performed on
Oct. 31. The test demonstrated the integrity
of the
vehicle-to-ground systems interface in a cryogenic
ment which duplicated launch countdown conditions. environ-

The FLTSATCOM-C spacecraft was received

underwent systems checkout in Hangar AM. The Oct. 30 and
spacecraft
was moved to the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation
Facility Nov. 15 for mating with its apogee
and for loading of its hydrazine propellant. kick motor

The spacecraft and payload fairing assembly

mated to the launch vehicle about a week later. were

All launch vehicle and pad operations during

launch countdown are conducted from the blockhouse the
Complex 36 by a joint government-industry at
team.

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 -7-

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 -8-

THE NASA FLTSATCOM TEAM

NASA Headquarters

Glynn S. Lunney Acting Associate Administrator

for Space Transportation
Systems Operations

Joseph B. Mahon Director, Expendable

Launch Vehicles

F. R. Schmidt Manager, Atlas Centaur

Launch Vehicle

Lewis Research Center

Dr. John F. McCarthy, Jr. Director

Dr. Seymour C. Himmel Associate Director

Lawretuce J. Ross Director, Launch Vehicles

J. E. Patterson Chief, Vehicles Engineering

Division

C. B. Wentworth Chief, Program Integration

Division

Kenneth A. Addms FLTSATCOM Mission Project

Engineer

Frank L. Manning FLTSATCOM Vehicle Engineer

Kennedy Space Center

Richard G. Smith Director

George F. Page Director, Cargo Operations

John Gossett Chief, Centaur Operations

Division

Barry Olton Spacecraft Coordinator

-end-

(Index: 9, 21, 29)