Intelsat 604, previously named Intelsat VI F-4, was a

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

operated by

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

. Launched in 1990, it was the third of five

Intelsat VI The Intelsat VI series of satellites were the 8th generation of geostationary communications satellites for the Intelsat Corporation. Designed and built by Hughes Aircraft Company (HAC) in 1983-1991, there were five VI-series satellites built: 601 ...

satellites to be launched. The Intelsat VI series was constructed by

Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace company, aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes ...

, based on the HS-389

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

. Intelsat 604 was launched at 11:19 UTC on 23 June 1990, atop a

Commercial Titan III The Commercial Titan III, also known as CT-3 or CT-III, was an American expendable launch system, developed by Martin Marietta during the late 1980s and flown four times during the early 1990s. It was derived from the Titan 34D, and was originall ...

carrier rocket, flight number CT-3, with an Orbus-21S upper stage. The launch took place from

Launch Complex 40 Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), sometimes referred to as "Slick Forty," is one of two launch pad, launch pads located at the Integrate-Transfer-Launch Complex in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It initially opened as Launch Complex ...

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

, and successfully placed Intelsat 604 into a

geosynchronous transfer orbit In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...

. The satellite raised itself into its final

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

using two liquid-fuelled R-4D-12 engines, with the satellite arriving in geostationary orbit on 28 June 1990. Intelsat 604 initially operated in a geostationary orbit with a

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

of , an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

of , and 0.3 degrees of

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

, however over time this became more inclined. The satellite carried 38 IEEE C band and ten IEEE

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

s, and had a design life of 13 years and a mass of . Following its arrival in geostationary orbit, Intelsat 604 was deployed at a longitude of 38 degrees west. It was moved to 27.5 degrees west in January 1991, where it operated until February 1992. From October 1992 to March 2002, it was operated at 60 degrees east. After leaving this position, it was positioned at 157 degrees east from August 2002 to September 2005. Its final deployment was from February to March 2006, at 177.85 degrees. The satellite was decommissioned on 6 April 2006 after it had been moved to a

graveyard orbit A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an Orbit (physics), orbit that lies away from common operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a supersynchronous orbit well beyond geosynchronous orbit. Some satellit ...

References

{{Orbital launches in 1990 Intelsat satellites Hughes aircraft Spacecraft launched in 1990 Derelict satellites orbiting Earth Spacecraft decommissioned in 2016