Mission type Communications COSPAR ID 1967-026A Mission duration 3 years Inclination 5.81° Period 24 hours Launch date 23 March 1967 | Operator Intelsat SATCAT no. 2717 Spacecraft type Intelsat II Inclination 5.81° Launch mass 162 kg Rocket Delta E | |
Similar Intelsat III F‑3, Intelsat 603, Galaxy 10R | ||
Intelsat II F-3, also known as Canary Bird was a communications satellite operated by Intelsat. Launched in 1967 it was operated in geostationary orbit, spending most of its operational life at a longitude of 15 degrees west.
The third of four Intelsat II satellites to be launched, Intelsat II F-3 was built by Hughes Aircraft around the HS-303A satellite bus. It carried two transponders, which were powered by body-mounted solar cells generating 85 watts of power. The spacecraft had a mass of 162 kilograms (357 lb) at launch, decreasing through expenditure of propellant to 86 kilograms (190 lb) by the beginning of its operational life.
Intelsat II F-3 was launched atop a Delta E1 rocket flying from Launch Complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch took place at 01:30:12 on March 23, 1967, with the spacecraft entering a geosynchronous transfer orbit. It fired an SVM-1 apogee motor to place itself into its operational geostationary orbit. The spacecraft was operated at a longitude of 15° west, over the Atlantic Ocean. It was briefly relocated to 35° west in 1972, but had returned to 15° west by the following year.
As of February 7, 2014 the derelict Intelsat II F-3 was in an orbit with a perigee of 35,716 kilometers (22,193 mi), an apogee of 35,892 kilometers (22,302 mi), inclination of 5.81 degrees and an orbital period of 23.94 hours.