Malfunction Leaves $150-Million Satellite in Low Orbit

Ground crews struggled Wednesday to save a $150-million communications satellite that wound up in a dangerously low orbit after failing to separate properly from its launch rocket.

Early data indicated that the satellite could last 12 days in orbit before plunging into the atmosphere and burning up, said Army Maj. Thomas Niemann of the U.S. Space Command in Denver.

The satellite has on-board thrusters that provide maneuvering capability, Niemann said. “If they can execute that, it has the potential of lasting longer,” he said.

Niemann said the satellite and the rocket were circling in the same orbit at about the same speed.

The satellite was propelled into space early in the day in the fourth launch conducted by a private company, but it initially failed to separate from the giant Titan 3 booster rocket.

Crews spent hours before successfully sending computer commands that got the balky satellite to separate from the rocket. But the motor that was to push the satellite into higher orbit remained on the rocket, officials said.

“We bought time,” said Martha DiSario, spokeswoman for Intelsat, owner of the satellite. “This allowed the satellite to be placed in a safe, low orbit.”

She declined to detail methods being considered to recover or save the satellite, other than to say: “We’re looking at options, including a possible shuttle recovery.”

National Aeronautics and Space Administration spokesman Dick Young said it was unlikely that a space shuttle would be dispatched to recover the satellite in the near future. Shuttles have brought back two satellites for refurbishing and repaired two others in space.

The satellite was intended to transmit up to 120,000 telephone calls simultaneously for several companies and three television channels for more than 13 years. It was to replace two older satellites over the Atlantic Ocean.

The 5-ton satellite, nearly four stories tall once its antennas and solar panels are deployed, was boosted into orbit by the Titan 3, the most powerful U.S. commercial rocket.

Martin Marietta Corp., which conducted the launch, initially reported that the satellite separated from the rocket 25 minutes after launch as scheduled. But several hours later it issued a statement saying: “Initial review of data suggests separation did not occur.”

Frederick Ormsby, spacecraft mission director for Intelsat--the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization--said the not-for-profit international consortium had not insured the satellite. The cost of insuring satellites is prohibitively expensive, officials said.

The Intelsat 6 satellite that was launched Wednesday was the second in a series of five powerful communications satellites built by Hughes Aircraft Co. of El Segundo, Calif. The first was successfully launched in October.

It also was the second flight of a Titan 3, built by Martin Marietta, in the post-Challenger commercial space program.