Galaxy 1

Galaxy 1
Operator Hughes
COSPAR ID 1983-065A
SATCAT № 14158
Mission duration 9 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus HS-376
Manufacturer Hughes Aircraft
Dry mass 1,218 kilograms (2,685 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date June 28, 1983, 22:08:00 (1983-06-28UTC22:08Z) UTC
Rocket Delta-3920/PAM-D
Launch site Cape Canaveral
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Geostationary
Longitude 169° west
Perigee 35,815 kilometers (22,254 mi)
Apogee 35,844 kilometers (22,272 mi)
Inclination 14.8°
Period 1.437 minutes
Transponders
Band 24 C band

Galaxy 1 was the first in a line of Galaxy communications satellites launched by Hughes Communications in 1983.

It helped fill a hole in satellite broadcasting bandwidth created by the loss of RCA's Satcom 3 in 1979. Unlike satellite owners RCA and Western Union, Hughes did not lease time on their transponders in the fashion of a common carrier, but instead sold transponders outright to content providers. This created a stable lineup of content attractive enough for cable providers to dedicate earth station receivers to it full-time.[1]

Among the services on Galaxy 1 by mid-1984: HBO, Cinemax, The Movie Channel, Showtime, The Disney Channel, TBS, CNN, ESPN, and The Nashville Network.[1]

Retirement of Galaxy 1

In 1992, Galaxy 1 was replaced by Galaxy 5 as the predominant cable television signal carrier, when a majority of satellite television services were relocated onto that satellite. It was originally slated for retirement in 1992 and replacement by Galaxy 1R, but the replacement was lost during launch on August 22, 1992, due to a failure of the booster rocket's second stage Centaur engine; it was eventually replaced in 1994 by Galaxy 1RR.

Home Box Office

The HBO (Home Box Office) signal on transponder 23 of Galaxy 1 was interrupted during the infamous Captain Midnight attack on April 27, 1986. The attack was directed at HBO for their adoption of the Videocipher system and for charging high prices for access to the HBO and Cinemax services with that system.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "After 10 Years of Satellite, the Sky's No Limit" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1984-04-09. p. 44. Retrieved 2015-06-13.


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