But the Ariane 5G rocket had an anomaly during its July 12, 2001 launch. It left BSAT-2b stranded in an orbit too low for its propulsion system to compensate and the spacecraft was written off.[5][6][1] BSAT ordered BSAT-2c immediately to replace it.[7] It decayed and burned in the atmosphere on January 28, 2014.[1][8]
It measured 3.76 m × 2.49 m × 2.03 m (12.3 ft × 8.2 ft × 6.7 ft) when stowed for launch. Its dual wing solar panels can generate 2.6 kW of power at the beginning of its design life, and span 16.10 m (52.8 ft) when fully deployed.[9]
In March 1999, B-SAT ordered from Orbital Sciences Corporation two satellites based on the STAR-1 platform: BSAT-2a and BSAT-2b.[7] This was the second order of the bus and the first since Orbital had acquired CTA Space Systems, the original developer.[2]
BSAT-2b was launched aboard an Ariane 5G at 23:58 UTC, July 12, 2001, from Guiana Space CenterELA-3.[5] It rode on the lower berth below Artemis. But the EPS upper stage had an anomaly and left the satellites on a 17,528 km × 592 km × 2.9° orbit, short of the planned 35,853 km × 858 km × 2.0°. While Artemis used its electric propulsion to make up for the difference. But BSAT-2b Star 30CBPapogee kick motor could not make up for the orbital energy short fall and was written off.[6][1][7]
On January 28, 2014, BSAT-2b decayed from its orbit and burned in the atmosphere.[1][8]
References
^ abcdef"BSAT 2B". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. April 27, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).