23553 - AMSC 1

AMSC-1 was a communications satellite launched from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 2A rocket for the America Mobile Satellite Corporation. It was placed in a geostationary orbit at 101.1 degrees W. It had the capability to support 2000 radio channels in L-band. The footprint covered the entire continental US and Canada, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and 200 miles of US and Canadian coastal waters. It was the first satellite to use Hughes' springback antennas, flexible 17-foot-by-22-foot ovals made of graphite.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 1995-04-07
Launch Vehicle: Atlas 2A
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 2700.0 kg