Symphonie
Encyclopedia
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
with a bipropellant propulsion system) to provide geostationary orbit injection and station-keeping during their operational lifetime. After the launch of the second flight model, they comprised the first complete telecommunications satellite system (including an on-orbit spare and a dedicated ground control segment). They were the result of a program of formal cooperation between France and Germany.
1963–1970: Beginnings
- January 22, 1963: Signing by President Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
and Chancellor Konrad AdenauerKonrad AdenauerKonrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
of the Élysée TreatyÉlysée TreatyÉlysée Treaty also known as the Treaty of Friendship, was concluded by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in 1963. It set the seal on reconciliation between the two countries...
, an agreement for Franco-German cooperationFranco-German cooperationThe relations between France and Germany is embodied in a cooperation called Franco-German Friendship . This came about after 1945, when a French-German enmity between the two countries ended....
. Start of preliminary studies in France (SAROS project) and in Germany (Olympia project) of communications satellites. - June 1967: Both countries sign an intergovernmental convention concerning the launchRocket launchA rocket launch is the takeoff phase of the flight of a rocket. Launches for orbital spaceflights, or launches into interplanetary space, are usually from a fixed location on the ground, but may also be from a floating platform such as the San Marco platform, or the Sea Launch launch...
and exploitation of an experimental telecommunication satellite (Symphonie) and the development and construction of earth stationEarth stationA ground station, earth station, or earth terminal is a terrestrial terminal station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft, and/or reception of radio waves from an astronomical radio source. Ground stations are located either on the surface of the Earth, or within Earth's...
s necessary for control of the satellites. Formation of a Franco-German board of directors and executive committee. The committee is headed by two executive secretaries – one German and the other French. Belgium joins the program. - 1967–1968: A Request for Proposals is launched for the Symphonie satellite, which was answered by two Franco-German consortia. The leaders are, respectively, Nord AviationNord AviationNord-Aviation was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. It was created on October 1, 1954 upon the acquisition of SFECMAS by SNCAN...
(which was to become AérospatialeAérospatialeAérospatiale was a French aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale...
after merging with Sud AviationSud AviationSud-Aviation was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est and Sud-Ouest on March 1, 1957...
) for the CIFAS consortium (Consortium Industrial Franco-Allemande pour le satellite Symphonie) and Matra SpaceMatra Marconi SpaceMatra Marconi Space was a Franco-British aerospace company.-History:Matra Marconi Space was established in 1990 as a joint venture between the space and telecommunication divisions of the Lagardère Group and the GEC group .The merged company was announced in December 1989 and was owned 51% by...
for the competing consortium. The CIFAS consortium was selected after the evaluation of bids and undertook, according to the terms of the consultation, a rounding-out of the various roles of the French and German firms in charge of electronic technology. - 1969: Beginning of a preliminary definition phase of the satellite, and negotiation of the contractContractA contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
and main subcontracts. Establishment of the industrial project team in Les MureauxLes MureauxLes Mureaux is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris from the center.-Transport:...
(Nord Aviation) and the client-project group in Brétigny-sur-OrgeBrétigny-sur-OrgeBrétigny-sur-Orge is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:Brétigny-sur-Orge is served by Brétigny station on Paris RER line C.Inhabitants of Brétigny-sur-Orge are known as Brétignolais....
(CNES). Production of mission specifications, satellite specifications and specifications for the control and exploitation segments.
Industrial Organization
Within the bilateral (CNESCNES
The is the French government space agency . Established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research...
– GfW) French-German contract, and under industrial prime contractorship of the CIFAS consortium (which was a European economic interest grouping
European economic interest grouping
A European Economic Interest Grouping is a type of legal entity created on 1985-07-25 under European Community Council Regulation 2137/85...
under French law) composed of six companies (three French and three German), their responsibilities were as follows:
Aérospatiale (France)
- Consortium leader and host of the integrated project team at its centre at Les Mureaux
- StructuresMechanical engineeringMechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, and thermal-controlTemperature controlTemperature control is a process in which change of temperature of a space is measured or otherwise detected, and the passage of heat energy into or out of the space is adjusted to achieve a desired average temperature....
subsystems and manufacture of all associated panels, mechanisms, thermal hardware and antenna reflectorsReflector (antenna)An antenna reflector is a device that reflects electromagnetic waves.It is often a part of an antenna assembly.The most common reflector types are...
(CannesCannesCannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
Space Centre) - Manufacture of the cold gas attitude control systemAttitude control systemIn spaceflight, the attitude control system or attitude determination and control system of a spacecraft consists of equipment to measure, report and change the orientation of the vehicle.- Components :...
, harness and pyrotechnicsPyrotechnicsPyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
(Les Mureaux) - Integration of mechanical and thermal models (Cannes)
- Integration of the electrical identification model and the first flight modelFree flight (model aircraft)The segment of model aviation known as free flight is the original form of the aeromodeling hobby, extending back centuries.- Description :...
, Symphonie-A (Les Mureaux)
Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) (RFA)
- Attitude and Orbit Control Subsystem (AOCS) (OttobrunnOttobrunnOttobrunn is a municipality southeast of Munich, Bavaria, Germany, founded in 1955. Ottobrunn consists of mainly semi-detached and detached houses, and lots of gardens...
, near Munich) - Manufacture of the hot-gas (bi-propellantPropellantA propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...
) thruster system (Ottobrunn and LampoldshausenLampoldshausenLampoldshausen is a small village near Möckmühl, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.Near Lampoldshausen there is since 1963 a large test stand areal for static firing of rocket engines, especially from Ariane-rockets.-External links:...
) - Apogee motorRocket engineA rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...
(bi-propellant) subsystem (Ottobrunn and Lampoldshausen) - Mechanical ground-support equipment for integration and transport
- Contribution of electrical test sets
- Integration of the qualification prototypePrototypeA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
and the second flight model, Symphonie-B (Ottobrunn)
Thomson-CSF (France)
- Super high frequencySuper high frequencySuper high frequency refers to radio frequencies in the range of 3 GHz and 30 GHz. This band of frequencies is also known as the centimetre band or centimetre wave as the wavelengths range from ten to one centimetres....
(SHF)-antenna subsystem for telecommunications payload and VHF-antenna subsystem for the TT&C (MeudonMeudonMeudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...
) - Manufacture of the TT&C system (GennevilliersGennevilliersGennevilliers is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 9 April 1929, one-fifth of the territory of Gennevilliers was detached and became the commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne.-Transport:...
and Vélizy-VillacoublayVélizy-VillacoublayVélizy-Villacoublay is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center and east of Versailles...
) - Manufacture of equipment for telecommunications transponderTransponderIn telecommunication, the term transponder has the following meanings:...
s, local oscillators and frequency conversion - Electronic test system (EGSE level 1) for ground testing (integration phase and preparation for flight)
Siemens AG (RFA)
- SHF C-band telecommunications transponder subsystem (MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
) - Manufacture of equipment for telecommunications transponders, receiving section and intermediary frequency amplification (Munich)
- Contribution of electrical test set
SAT (France)
- Solar-arrayPhotovoltaic moduleA solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
subsystem (Paris and LannionLannionLannion is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subpréfecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants.-Population:...
) - Manufacture of telemetryTelemetryTelemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
encoder (Paris) - Contribution to electrical test sets
AEG-Telefunken (RFA)
- Regulated electric power supply subsystem (WedelWedelWedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and mile, west of Hamburg.-Foundation and Middle Ages:...
, near Hamburg) - Manufacture of equipment for the telecommunications transponders, transmission section (BacknangBacknangBacknang is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly 30 kilometers northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 35,761 in 2005....
– near Stuttgart – and Ulm) - Manufacture of SHF modulators and demodulators for onboard telemetry and telecommand
- Contribution to electrical test sets.
Other major contributions
- The six CIFAS companies participated in the integrated project team with detached personnel, headed by Pierre Madon (Aérospatiale).
- Belgium officially contributed to the project; its industrial presence included the Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de CharleroiCharleroiCharleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
(ACEC) and the space division of ETCA, supplier of the DC-DC converters for the electric power supply; and SAIT for the EGSE test computers. - French and German equipment manufacturers contributed under contract to the consortium members (notably Sodern, SAFT, Crouzet and Starec in France and Teldix and VFWVereinigte Flugtechnische WerkeVereinigte Flugtechnische Werke was a German aerospace company formed by the 1964 merger of Focke-Wulf and Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH...
in Germany). - Major test facilities used for the qualification and acceptance tests (space environment simulation): SOPEMEA (a subsidiary of CNES in Toulouse) and IABG in (Ottobrunn)
- Calibration of telecommunications performance: Centre National d'Etudes des Telecommunications (CNET, in La TurbieLa TurbieLa Turbie is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-History:...
)
1970: Satellite development
- 1970–1971: Beginning of the Symphonie satellite development program, with a contract signed by General Robert Aubinière (Director General of CNES) and Dr. Mayer (representing the German ministry) Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung (BMWF). The CIFAS consortium (organized as a European economic interest groupingEuropean economic interest groupingA European Economic Interest Grouping is a type of legal entity created on 1985-07-25 under European Community Council Regulation 2137/85...
and whose administrator at the time was Charles Cristofini) went through several restructurings with the creation of Thomson-CSF, MBB (Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm), AEG Telefunken and Aérospatiale. - 1972: The failure of the Europe II launch vehicle and the abandonment of the program (which had been led by the ELDOEuropean Launcher Development OrganisationThe European Launcher Development Organisation was a multinational consortium formed in the 1960s to build an indigenous European space launch vehicle, Europa....
) triggers a crisis; it is uncertain if development should continue or, if so, how the satellites will be deployed. After some governmental hesitation, the program continues. The satellites will be launched by the American Thor Delta 2914 satellite-launch vehicles, at the cost of a restrictive agreement; any commercial use of Symphonie is forbidden by the U.S. State Department. - 1973: Integration of the test and qualification models of the satellite
- 1974: Integration in Les Mureaux of the first flight model (Symphonie-A) and delivery of the satellite
Launch and lifespan
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
on December 19, 1974 at 2:39 a.m. UT.
- 1975: (January 12) President Valéry Giscard d'EstaingValéry Giscard d'EstaingValéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
of France and German Chancellor Helmut SchmidtHelmut SchmidtHelmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
exchange their New Year greetings live in a videoconference, via Symphonie-A in geostationary orbit. Symphonie-A is the first geostationary telecommunications satellite built and operated in Europe; some of its technology is groundbreaking. - After its integration at MBB in Ottobrunn and delivery, Symphonie-B is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on August 27, 1975 at 1:42 a.m. UT.
- The two satellites are positioned in geostationary orbit at 11.5° west, perfectly fulfilling their mission (two coverage zones, Euro-African and America, can fully benefit from 4 wideband transponders of 90 MHz each); they are the stars of the 1975 Geneva Telecom Show.
- 1977–1979: For two years beginning in June 1977, Symphonie-A is repositioned over the Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
at 49° east, where it carries out experiments with India and China. - February 4–7, 1980: An international colloquium is held in Berlin concerning the technical and operational results of the program. Among the presentations, Professor Hubert CurienHubert CurienHubert Curien was a French physicist and a key figure in European science politics, as the President of CERN , the first chairman of the European Space Agency , and second President of the Academia Europæa and a President of Fondation de France.-Biography:Born in Cornimont, Vosges in Lorraine,...
(then-president of CNES) declared in brief, "Symphonie is the father of ArianeAriane (rocket)Ariane is a series of a European civilian expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. The name comes from the French spelling of the mythological character Ariadne....
"; it served as the catalyst for the European decision to develop a heavy launch vehicle. - August 12, 1983: Symphonie-A makes its final manoeuvre to a graveyard orbitGraveyard orbitA graveyard orbit, also called a supersynchronous orbit, junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit significantly above synchronous orbit, where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life...
, and is de-activated after 8 ½ years of service. - December 19, 1984: Exactly ten years after the launch of Symphonie-A, Symphonie-B is also deactivated and placed in a graveyard orbit after nine years of active service. The Symphonie satellites operated successfully for double their expected lifespans, performing hundreds of experiments and expanding the horizons of telecommunications in space.
Uses
Symphonie was the forerunner for numerous telecommunications services. Its prohibition on commercial use may have paradoxically induced a larger program for experimentation of space telecommunications than ever before – both in the number of participating countries and diversity of field applications. As an example of the extent of its use, 40 countries participated in links via Symphonie A and B (east-west and north-south) – from Quebec to Argentina, from Finland to Reunion IslandRéunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and from China to Indonesia. The Symphonie A and B experiments may be divided into two types:
- Humanitarian, cultural and educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al experiments - TechnicalTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and scientific experiments
To these types operational experiments may be added, notably for links between metropolitan France and its overseas departments
Overseas departments and territories of France
The French Overseas Departments and Territories consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France , and consequently the...
for telephony and television via satellite. From this viewpoint Symphonie was a forerunner of the French national programs Telecom-1 & 2 and TDF
TDF Group
TDF is a French company which provides radio and television transmission services, services for telecoms operators, and other multimedia services: digitization of content, encoding, storage, etc.Its headquarters are located in Paris.It is the dominant partner in the HDRR WiMAX consortium...
1 & 2, and the German programs TV-SAT and DFS Kopernikus. The wideband transponders, with their operational flexibility, made it possible to test all-access techniques (single or multiple) and modulation: FDMA (frequency sharing), TDMA (time sharing) and SSMA (spread spectrum). Symphonie terrestrial stations with antennas of various diameters from 16 to 2.2 meters (fixed, portable and mobile) contributed to the renown of the programme around the world. Several demonstrations were:
- Links between United Nations headquartersUnited Nations headquartersThe headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River...
in New York and GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and the UN Blue Helmet squadrons in Jerusalem and IsmaïliaIsmaïlia-Notable natives:*Osman Ahmed Osman, a famous and influential Egyptian engineer, contractor, entrepreneur, and politician, was born in this town on 6 April 1917....
– inaugurating the future communications mode VSAT (very small aperture terminal), using small-diameter ground antennas - Educational televisionEducational televisionEducational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...
in Africa, particularly in Côte d'IvoireCôte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
and GabonGabonGabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west... - Intercultural exchanges via teleconferencing, telerehabilitationTelerehabilitationTelerehabilitation is the delivery of rehabilitation services over telecommunication networks and the internet. Most types of services fall into two categories: clinical assessment , and clinical therapy...
and telemedicineTelemedicineTelemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities...
, notably between France and QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.... - Occasional tele-transmission services (emergency links to disaster areas for the Red Cross, sports reporting and so on)
- High-speed, bidirectional links between computers – a forerunner of transcontinental data communications and the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
- Synchronization of atomic clocks on an intercontinental scale, to obtain a very high stability of universal time – a forerunner to navigation and positioning satellites GPS and GalileoGalileo positioning systemGalileo is a global navigation satellite system currently being built by the European Union and European Space Agency . The €20 billion project is named after the famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei...
- Regional-level tests for mixed analog and digital television and radio broadcastingBroadcastingBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
(now used in many countries – for example IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, India and China)
One opportunity to demonstrate Symphonie's utility in 1978 was not used; it could have been utilized in Kolwezi
Kolwezi
Kolwezi is a city in Katanga Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. The population is approximately 418,000....
(the intervention of French troops in Zaire to protect Europeans living in Katanga), if the French chiefs of staff had followed the above-mentioned UN example rather than calling upon logistical support from the United States.
After Symphonie
Symphonie's ten years of service have been credited with developing the maturity and reliability of space technology, at a time when telecommunications operators were thinking in terms of cables and ground microwave links. After IntelsatIntelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
(a pioneer in intercontinental telephony), Symphonie led to the development of regional systems with a number of applications (including tele-distribution, tele-education and reliable radio-electrical access) for use in isolated areas with no ground infrastructure and low population density. The Symphonie program was also a training program; it trained engineers, operators and satellite users, who acquired their expertise through the program and distributed it on the European and international level.
Afterwards, new European programs followed and enabled Europe to attain excellence in the field of space telecommunications. The technical success of this precursor program, the demonstration in orbit of the quality of technology born in Europe and the diverse uses benefiting many countries and communities make Symphonie one of the major bases of Europe's success in space.
On the industrial level, it helped launch Europe into major space programs and spurred an industrial restructuring which transformed national industries into European groups. Most of Symphonie's industrial partners contributed to the genesis of the Spacebus
Spacebus
Spacebus is a satellite bus produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in France by Thales Alenia Space. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary communications satellites, and fifty-two have been launched since development started in the 1980s. Spacebus was originally produced by...
programs, and to commercial applications in space communications and direct-to-home TV broadcasting.
Firsts
Symphonie was the:- First three-axis stabilizedAttitude dynamics and controlSpacecraft flight dynamics is the science of space vehicle performance, stability, and control. It requires analysis of the six degrees of freedom of the vehicle's flight, which are similar to those of aircraft: translation in three dimensional axes; and its orientation about the vehicle's center...
communications satelliteCommunications satelliteA communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
in geostationary orbitGeostationary orbitA geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
with a bipropellant rocket propulsion system (to insure geostationary orbit injection and orbit control during its entire lifespan) - First European communications satellite system
Sources
- "80 years of passion: the Cannes Centre from 1919 to 1999", Editions Version Latine 1999, France.
External links
- 1969 to 1975, the first steps of Symphonie, Space Corner, Eurospace
- Jean-Jacques Dechezelles, Technical presentation of the Symphonie Satellite, Cannes-aero-patrimoine