Marisat

The MARISAT-F2 satellite, believed to be the longest serving commercial communications satellite in the world, was recently decommissioned after 32 years of service. Launched on 14 October 1976 at 22:44 GMT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the MARISAT-F2 has joined thousands of other formerly active satellites in an orbit beyond the GEO Belt. Intelsat General Engineer Dennis Boiter performed the de-orbit maneuvers on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 from the Clarksburg Teleport.

The MARISAT-F2 provided Intelsat General customer, National Science Foundation (NSF), including scientists and other staff at its Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, the necessary communications capacity to transfer large amounts of scientific data gathered in their year-round research, as well as for e-mail and Internet access.

The spacecraft was built by Hughes Aircraft Company and served Indian Ocean Region (IOR) customers from 1976 to 2000 when it was redeployed to 33.9ºW, over the Atlantic Ocean^[1]. There, it continued to provide commercial communications services for the remainder of its service life. Of note, the MARISAT-F2 was the last of three MARISAT satellites launched by COMSAT. The three-satellite MARISAT system served as the initial Inmarsat constellation. The MARISAT-F2 satellite was acquired by Intelsat as part of the COMSAT General acquisition in October 2004.

The MARISAT satellites had a ^[2]

[1] ttp://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/376/marisat/marisat.html

[2] ttp://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/com/marisat.htm

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