[amsat-bb] Re: old satellites

[Jim Jerzycke]

Satellites not allowed to intentionally "drift" out of their assigned orbital slot. When the fuel gets down to a critical level, *sometimes* they'll allow them to drift North-South in an inclined orbit to get some extra operating time out of them, but they're carefully controlled as to East-West movement.
When the fuel gets _really_ low, they use the remainder to boost them up higher into a graveyard orbit. Unless something catastrophic happens, the ground controllers NEVER allow a commercial satellite to run out of fuel just sitting in it's assigned slot.
Hughes Space and Communications doesn't exist anymore. They were bought by Boeing in 2000, and are now the Boeing Satellite Development Center.

Jim KQ6EA
Former Hughes and current Boeing employee


--- On Thu, 3/12/09, MM <ka1rrw at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: MM <ka1rrw at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: old satellites
> To: amsat-bb at amsat.org, w7lrd at comcast.net
> Date: Thursday, March 12, 2009, 3:57 AM
> There have been cases in the past, where Old commercial
> satellites have been assigned other light duties. 
> Example, a marginally functional satellite was assigned
> free telephone status for the remote island Pitcairn.  
> 
> so it may be possible to find some other satellites that
> still have working transponders which are not good enough
> for profit but could still be used by hams.  Example, if the
> sat was designed as a Geo sat and it's Fuel runs out, it
> will drift out of its parking space.  The transponders still
> work but it can not be used since its Moving and its not in
> its assigned parking space.
> we should not only check out the Geo Sats, but also
> Tumbling Iridium sats too.
> 
> Any one have contacts are Huges or one of the other
> satellite companies?
> 
> 
> wf1f.
> 
> 
> 
> --- On Thu, 3/12/09, w7lrd at comcast.net
> <w7lrd at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> > From: w7lrd at comcast.net <w7lrd at comcast.net>
> > Subject: [amsat-bb]  old satellites
> > To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
> > Date: Thursday, March 12, 2009, 12:24 AM
> > Hello
> > I believe this subject has been kicked around on this
> BB
> > before.  It did generate some creative thinking. 
> Given  all
> > the satellites up there and all the varied uses of
> them,
> > eventually some of them get compromised for whatever
> reason.
> >  Is there any way any of these old relics can be
> > reprogramed, used or otherwise "adjusted" to
> suit
> > us?  We don't need a real good S/N  ratio to make
> us
> > happy, and we are pretty good at cobbling together
> whatever
> > we want.  We have some very informed and smart people
> on
> > this BB who know.
> > 73 Bob W7LRD
> > Seattle
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. Opinions expressed are
> those
> > of the author.
> > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the
> amateur
> > satellite program!
> > Subscription settings:
> > http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> 
> 
>       
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those
> of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur
> satellite program!
> Subscription settings:
> http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb