Intelsat V-operational succes of a large three-axis communication satellite

This paper describes the technical and operational aspects of the first 4 in a series of 15 Intelsat V satellites. Flights 5 through 15 contain additional payloads beyond the basic Intelsat V payload of the first four spacecraft. The successful launch of the four satellites took place between December 6, 1980 and March 4, 1982. Following nominal transfer orbit operations, the satellites were placed into near circular drift orbit by firing solid apogee kick motors. The drift orbit operations included a spin mode orbit correction maneuver followed by despin and transition to the three-axis-stabilized configuration. Following solar array and antenna deployments, a series of detailed functional tests was performed to validate the health and performance of the satellites. All redundant spacecraft hardware, mechanisms, and critical operational modes were verified for all satellites. All test results agreed with prelaunch data. Communications tests validated that the critical payload elements (antennas, feeds, and transponders) were not adversely affected by launch.