GLOBALSTAR 52, 49, 25, and 47 join the fleet of communications spacecraft owned by that international consortium. They were launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 13:48 UT on 1999 June 10. The fleet enables voice and data links from/to phones far away from cellular networks. Initial orbital parameters of all four were similar: period 114 min, apogee 1,414 km, perigee 1,406 km, and inclination 52 deg.
Globalstar planned 52 satellites (48 operational and 4 on-orbit spares) in Space Systems Loral's "Big LEO" global mobile communications network, offering global real time voice, data and fax. The satellites were 3-axis stabilized, and employed magnetometers on a deployable boom, sun sensors, GPS as attitude sensors, and carried two deployable solar arrays delivering 1100 W. The satellites in the first-generation constellation were designed to operate at full performance for a minimum of 7.5 years.
The satellites in the system were placed into low earth orbit in eight operational planes of six satellites each, with 1,414 kilometer circular orbits inclined at 52 degrees.
Facts in Brief
Launch Date: 1999-06-10
Launch Vehicle: Delta II
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 450.0 kg
Nominal Power: 1100.0 W