Communications Satellites

Communications

satellites

Below are checklists of communications satellites, including launch dates and images of the satellites. This is a work in

progress, and completeness is our goal. If readers know of additional information or images, please contact the authors using

the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

Satellite series covered on this page:

AMOS

Anik

APStar

Arabsat

ASC

Astra

Aussat

Ayame

BS/BSAT

BSB

Comstar

Courier

CS

DFS

DSCS

Echo

Echostar

ECS/Ayame

ECS/Eutelsat

Estrela do

Sul

Eutelsat

Galaxy

HotBird

IDCSP

Immarsat

Intelsat

JCSat

Kopernikus

Leasat

Marcopolo

Marecs

Marisat

Molniya

Morelos

NATO

Optus

Orion

OTS

Palapa

Panamsat

PAS

RCA-Satcom

Relay

Sakura

Satcom

SBS

SDS

Skynet

Symphonie

Syncom

TDF

TDRS

Telecom

Telesat

Telstar

Turksat

TV-Sat

Westar

Yuri

Other

(selected)

U.S.

Other

(selected)

non-U.S.

U.S. Echo-series satellites:

Satellite Launch DateImages

reference launch covers other postal items

Shotput-1 (Echo test) rocket [sub-orbital] 1959-10-28

Shotput

Echo Echo




Echo-1 [failed] 1960-05-13

Echo

Echo

Echo-1

Shotput-5 (Echo test) rocket [sub-orbital] 1960-05-31 Shotput

Echo-1A 1960-08-12 Echo-1

Big Shot-1 (Echo test) rocket [sub-orbital] 1962-01-15

Big Shot-2 (Echo test) rocket [sub-orbital] 1962-07-18

Echo-2 (Echo-C) 1964-01-25 Echo-2

U.S. Courier-series satellites:



Courier-1A [failed] 1960-08-18 Courier-1A

Communications satellites http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/communications.htm

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Courier-1B 1960-10-04 Courier-1B Courier-1B

U.S. Telstar-series satellites:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images

referencelaunch

covers

other postal

items

Telstar-1 1962-07-10

Telstar-1

Telstar-1

Telstar

Telstar

Telstar

Telstar

Telstar

Telstar-1

Telstar Telstar

Telstar-2 1963-05-07

Telstar-301 / Telstar-3A / Arabsat-1E 1983-07-28Telstar-301

Telstar-3

Telstar-3

Telstar-302 / Telstar-3C [STS-41D/Discovery-launched] 1984-08-30

Telstar-303 / Telstar-3D1 [STS-51G/Discovery-

launched]1985-06-17

Telstar-401 1993-12-16

Telstar-401Telstar-402 1994-09-09

Telstar-402R / Telstar-4 1995-09-23

Telstar-5 / Intelsat Americas-5 / Galaxy-25 1997-05-24

Telstar-5/6/7Telstar-6 / Intelsat Americas-6 / Galaxy-26 1999-02-15

Telstar-7 / Intelsat Americas-7 / Galaxy-27 1999-09-25

Telstar-8 / Intelsat Americas-8 / Galaxy-28 2005-06-23 Telstar-8

Telstar-9 Canceled

Telstar-10 / APStar-2R 1997-10-17 Telstar-10

Telstar-11 / Orion-1 1994-11-29 Telstar-11

Telstar-12 / Orion-2 1999-10-19 Telstar-12

Telstar-13 / Intelsat Americas-13 / Galaxy-23 /

Echostar-92003-08-08 Telstar-13

Telstar-14 / Estrela do Sul-1 2004-01-11 Telstar-14

Telstar-18 / APStar-5 2004-06-29 Telstar-18

Telstar-11N 2009-02-26 Telstar-11N

Telstar-14R / Estrela do Sul-2 2011-05-20 Telstar-14R

1There is disagreement among various sources on whether this should be called Telstar-3D or Telstar-3B!

U.S. Relay-series satellites:



Relay-1 1962-12-13 Relay-1

Relay-1

Relay-1

Relay-1

Relay-1

Relay-1+2

Relay

Relay

Relay

Relay

Relay


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Relay-2 1964-01-21

Relay-1+2

Relay-2

Relay-2 (Ariel image)

U.S. Syncom-series satellites:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images

reference launch coversother postal

items

Syncom-1 1963-02-14 Syncom-1

Syncom-1

Syncom-1

Syncom-1

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom

Syncom+other

Syncom

Syncom-2 1963-07-26 Syncom-2

Syncom-3 1964-08-19

Syncom-3

Syncom-3 (25th

anniv.)

Syncom-3

Syncom-3

Syncom-4-2 / Leasat-F1 [STS-41D/Discovery-

launched]1984-08-30

Leasat

Leasat-F1

Syncom-4-1 / Leasat-F2 [STS-51A/Discovery-

launched]1984-11-08 Leasat-F2

Syncom-4-3 / Leasat-F3 [STS-51D/Discovery-

launched]1985-04-12 Leasat-F3 (launch)

Syncom-4-3 / Leasat-F3 [STS-51I/Discovery-

repaired]1985-08-29 Leasat-F3 (repair)

Syncom-4-4 / Leasat-F4 [STS-51I/Discovery-


Syncom-4-5 / Leasat-F5 [STS-32R/Columbia-


INternational TELecommunications SATellite consortium (Intelsat) series:



Intelsat-1 / Early-Bird 1965-04-06

Intelsat-1

Intelsat-

1+2+3+4+4A

Intelsat-1

Intelsat-1 (plus

other cancel)

Early-Bird

Early-Bird

Early-Bird

Intelsat

Intelsat

Intelsat-1+2+3+4+4A

OTS+Anik-2+Intelsat-

1+2+3+4+4A

Early-Bird

Intelsat-2 series (1 — 4) /

Blue-Bird / Lani-Bird /

Canary-Bird

1966-10-26 —

1967-09-28Intelsat-2

Intelsat-2-2

Intelsat-2-3

Intelsat-2-4 (hand

cancel)

Intelsat-2-4

Lani-Bird+Telstar


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(machine cancel)

Intelsat-3 series (1 — 8)1968-09-18 —


Intelsat-3-3 (not

Intelsat-3A)

Intelsat-3-5

Intelsat-3-5

Intelsat-3-6

Intelsat-3-8

Intelsat-3

Intelsat-3

Intelsat-3

Intelsat-4 series (1 — 8)1971-01-25 —

1975-05-22

Intelsat-4-4

Intelsat-4-8

Intelsat-4

Intelsat-4-3

Intelsat-4-5

Intelsat-4 (wrong image)

Intelsat-4

SIRIO-1+Intelsat-4

Intelsat-4A series (1 — 6)1975-09-26 —

1978-03-31Intelsat-4A

Intelsat-4A-2

Intelsat-4A-4

Intelsat-4A-3

(Intelsat-4 image)

Intelsat-4A-4

(Intelsat-4 image)

Intelsat-4A

Intelsat-5 series (1 — 9)1980-12-06 —

1984-06-09Intelsat-5 Intelsat-5A-15

Intelsat-5

Meteosat+Intelsat-5

Meteosat+EXOSAT+Intelsat-

5+Arabsat+TurksatIntelsat-5A series (10 — 15)

1985-03-23 —

1989-01-27

Intelsat-6 series (1 — 5)1989-10-27 —

1991-10-29

Intelsat-6HST+UARS+Intelsat-

6+Explorer-66 (with Shuttle)Intelsat-6-3 [rocket-launch] 1990-03-14

Intelsat-6-3

(launch)

Intelsat-6-3 [STS-49/Endeavour-

repaired and re-deployed]1992-07-31 Intelsat-6-3 (repair)

Intelsat-K 1992-06-09 Intelsat-K

Intelsat-7 series (1 — 5, and 9)1993-10-22 —



1996-02-14Intelsat-7a

Intelsat-8 series (1 — 4)1997-03-01 —



1998-02-27Intelsat-8a

Intelsat-9 series (1 — 7)2001-06-09 —


Intelsat-10-2 2004-06-16

Asia Pacific STAR (APStar) series satellites:



APStar-1 1994-07-21 APStar-1


APStar-1A 1996-07-03

APStar-2R / Telstar-10 1997-10-16 APStar-2R

APStar-5 / Telstar 18 2004-06-29


Anik-series satellites:


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SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images


Anik-A1 / Telesat-1 (Telesat-A) 1972-11-10

Anik-A

Anik-A

Anik-1

(Telesat-A)

Anik-1

(Intelsat-4 image)

Anik-A2 / Telesat-2 (Telesat-B) 1973-04-19OTS+Anik-2+Intelsat-

1+2+3+4+4A

Anik-A3 / Telesat-3 (Telesat-C) 1975-05-07

Anik-B1 / Telesat-4 (Telesat-D) 1978-12-15 Anik-B1

Anik-B1

(Telesat-4)

Anik-B1

Anik-C1 / Telesat-9 (Telesat-I) / Nahuel-I1 / Brazil-1T

[STS-51D/Discovery-launched]1985-04-12

Anik-C/D

Anik-C1

Anik-C2 / Telesat-7 (Telesat-G) / Nahuel-I2

[STS-7/Challenger-launched]1983-06-18 Anik-C2

Anik-C3 / Telesat-6 (Telesat-E) [STS-5/Columbia-

launched]1982-11-11 Anik-C3

Anik-D1 / Telesat-5 (Telesat-F) 1982-08-26

Anik-D2 / Telesat-8 (Telesat-H) / Satcom-4R /

Arabsat-1DR [STS-51A/Discovery-launched]1984-11-08 Anik-D2

Anik-E1 1991-09-26 Anik-E1 Anik-E1

Anik-E2 1991-04-04 Anik-E2

Anik-ER2 / Galaxy-3R 1995-12-15

Anik-F1 2000-11-21 Anik-F1 Anik-F1

Anik-F1R 200? Anik-F1R

Anik-F2 2004-07-18 Anik-F2

Anik-F3 200? Anik-F3

WEstern union STAR (Westar) series satellites:



Westar-1 (Westar-A) 1974-04-13 WestarWestar-1

Westar

Westar-2 (Westar-B) 1974-10-10 Westar-2

Westar-3 1979-08-10

Westar-4 1982-02-26 Westar-4

Westar-5 1982-06-09

Westar-6 [STS-41B/Challenger-launched] 1984-02-03 Westar-6 (launch)Westar-6

Westar-6

Westar-6

Westar-6Westar-6 [STS-51A/Discovery-recovered] 1984-11-08 Westar-6 (recovery)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) series satellites:



NATO-1 1970-03-20NATO-1

NATO-1


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NATO-2 1971-02-03

NATO-3A 1976-04-22 NATO-3A

NATO-3B 1977-01-28 NATO-3B

NATO-3C 1978-11-19

NATO-3D 1984-11-14

NATO-4A 1991-01-08 NATO-4A

NATO-4B 1993-12-08

French-German Symphonie-series satellites:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images


Symphonie-1

(Symphonie-A)1974-12-19

Symphonie-1

Symphonie-1

Symphonie-1 (folded solar

panels)

Symphonie-1 (Intelsat-3 image)

Symphonie

Symphonie

Symphonie1+TDF or TV-Sat

Symphonie1+TDF or TV-Sat

Symphonie

Symphonie

Symphonie+Helios

Aeros+Azur+Helios+Symphonie

Symphonie-2

(Symphonie-B)1975-08-27

Symphonie-2

Symphonie-2

Symphonie-2 (folded solar

panels)

1The solar panels on this satellite are not identical to those on Symphonie.

German TeleVision Satellite (TV-Sat) series:



TV-Sat-1 1987-11-21 TV-Sat-1 Symphonie1+TDF or TV-Sat

Symphonie1+TDF or TV-SatTV-Sat-2 1989-08-08


French Télédiffusion de France (TDF) series satellites:



TDF-1 1988-10-28 TDF-1 Symphonie1+TDF or TV-Sat

Symphonie1+TDF or TV-SatTDF-2 1990-07-25


European Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) series:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images


OTS-1 (OTS-A)

[failed]1977-06-16 OTS

OTS

OTS


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ESA-GEOS+OTS-2

OTS+Anik-2+Intelsat-

1+2+3+4+4AOTS-2 (OTS-B) 1978-05-11

OTS-2

OTS-2

OTS-2

OTS-2

OTS-2 (mislabeled OTS-1, wrong

image)

European Astra-series satellites:



Astra-1A 1988-12-11

Astra-1B 1991-03-02 Astra-1B

Astra-1C 1993-05-12 Astra-1C

Astra-1D 1994-11-01

Astra-1E 1995-10-19

Astra-1F 1996-04-08

Astra-1G 1997-12-02

Astra-1H 1999-06-18

Astra-1K 2002-11-25

Astra-2A 1998-08-30

Astra-2B 2000-09-14

Astra-2C 2001-06-16

Astra-2D 2000-12-20

Astra-3A 2002-03-29

European HotBird-series satellites:



HotBird-1 1995-03-28

HotBird-2 1996-11-21

HotBird-3 1997-09-02 HotBird-3

HotBird-4 1998-02-27

HotBird-5 1998-10-09

HotBird-6 2002-08-21

HotBird-7A 2006-03-11 HotBird-7A+SpainSat

MARitime communications SATellite (Marisat) series:



Marisat-1 1976-02-19 Marisat-1 Marisat-1

Marisat+Marecs (not Inmarsat)Marisat-2 1976-06-10

Marisat-3 1976-10-14

MARitime European Communications Satellite (Marecs) series:


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Marecs-1 (Marecs-A) 1981-12-20

Marecs

Marecs-1 Marisat+Marecs (not Inmarsat)

Marecs-B [failed] 1982-09-10

SIRIO-2+Marecs-B

SIRIO-2+Marecs-B

SIRIO-2+Marecs-B

SIRIO-2+Marecs-B

SIRIO-2+Marecs-B

Marecs-2 (Marecs-B2) 1984-11-10

INternational MARitime SATellite (Inmarsat) series:



Inmarsat-2-F1 1990-10-30

Inmarsat-2

Marisat+Marecs (not Inmarsat)

Inmarsat-2-F2 1991-03-08

Inmarsat-2-F3 1991-12-16

Inmarsat-2-F4 1992-04-15

Inmarsat-3-F1 1996-04-03

Inmarsat-3

Inmarsat-3-F2 1996-09-06

Inmarsat-3-F3 1996-12-18

Inmarsat-3-F4 1997-06-03

Inmarsat-3-F5 1998-02-04

Inmarsat-4-F1 2004-03-11 Inmarsat-4

Inmarsat-4-F2 2005-11-08

Inmarsat-4-F3 2008-08-19 Inmarsat-4-F3

COMmunications STAR (Comstar) series satellites:



Comstar-1 1976-05-13 Comstar-1 Comstar-1

Comstar-2 1976-07-22 Comstar-2

Comstar-3 1978-06-29

Comstar-4 1981-02-21 Comstar-4

ECHO STAR (Echostar) series satellites:



Echostar-1 1995-12-28 Echostar-1

Echostar-2 1996-09-11


Echostar-4 1998-05-07

Echostar-5 1999-09-23


Echostar-7 2002-02-21



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Echostar-9 / Telstar-13 2003-08-08

Palapa-series satellites:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images


Palapa-1 1976-07-08 Palapa-1

Palapa-2 1977-03-10 Palapa-2

Palapa-B1 [STS-7/Challenger-

launched]1983-06-18 Palapa-B1 Palapa-B1

Palapa-B2 [STS-41B/Challenger-

launched]1984-02-03

Palapa-B2

(launch)Palapa-B2 (STS-51A/Discovery-

recovered)

SMM+Palapa-B2 (with Shuttle)Palapa-B2 [STS-51A/Discovery-

recovered]1984-11-08

Palapa-B2

(recovery)

Palapa-B2P 1987-03-20

Palapa-B2R 1990-04-13

Palapa-B4 1992-05-14

Palapa-C1 1996-02-01

Palapa-C2 1996-05-16

British Skynet-series satellites:



Skynet-1 1969-11-22 Skynet-1

Skynet-1B 1970-08-19 Skynet-1B

Skynet-2A 1974-01-19

Skynet-2B 1974-11-23 Skynet-2B

Skynet-4A 1990-01-01

Skynet-4B 1988-12-11

Skynet-4C 1990-08-30

Skynet-4D 1998-01-10

Skynet-4E 1999-02-26

Skynet-4F 2001-02-07

Skynet-5C 2008-06-12 Skynet-5C

British Marcopolo / British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) series satellites:



Marcopolo-1 / BSB-R1 / Sirius-1 1989-08-27Marcopolo-1

Marcopolo-2 / BSB-R2 / Thor-1 1990-08-18

German Deutscher Fernmelde Satellit (DFS) / Kopernikus-series:




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DFS / Kopernikus-1 1989-06-05

DFS

DFS/Kopernikus

DFS

DFS

DFS / Kopernikus-2 1990-07-25

DFS / Kopernikus-3 / HellasSat-1 1992-10-12

Japanese Ayame / Experimental Communications Satellite (ECS) series:



Ayame-1 (ECS-A) 1979-02-06Ayame-1

Ayame-1

Ayame-2 (ECS-B) 1980-02-22Ayame-2

Ayame-2

Japanese Yuri / Broadcasting Satellite (BS / BSAT) series:



Yuri-1 / BSE 1978-04-07 BSE (Explorer-38/49 image and text)

Yuri-2a / BS-2a 1984-01-23 BS-2a

Yuri-2b / BS-2b 1986-02-12

Yuri-2x / BS-2x 1990-02-23

Yuri-3a / BS-3a 1990-08-28 BS-3a

BS-3+othersYuri-3h / BS-3h 1991-04-19 BS-3h

Yuri-3b / BS-3b 1991-08-25

Yuri-3n / BS-3n 1994-07-08

BSAT-1a 1997-04-16 BSAT-1a

BSAT-1b 1998-04-28

BSAT-2a 2001-03-08 BSAT-2a

BSAT-2b 2001-07-12

BSAT-2C 2003-06-11

Japanese Sakura / Communications Satellite (CS) series:



Sakura-1 / CS-1 1977-12-15 CS-1 CS-1

Sakura-2A / CS-2A 1983-02-04 CS-2a

Sakura-2B / CS-2B 1983-08-05CS-2b

CS-2b

Sakura-3A / CS-3A 1988-02-19 CS-3a CS-3a

Sakura-3B / CS-3B 1988-09-16

Japanese Communications SATellite (JCSat) series:



JCSat-1 1989-03-06 JCSat-1 JCSat-1


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JCSat-2 1990-01-01

JCSat-3 1995-08-29JCSat-3/4

JCSat-4 1997-02-18

JCSat-5 1997-12-02JCSat-5/6

JCSat-6 1999-02-16

JCSat-8 2002-03-29 JCSat-8

EUropen TELcommunications SATellite (Eutelsat) / European

Communications Satellite (ECS) series:



Eutelsat-1-F1 / ECS-1 1983-06-16

Eutelsat-1

Eutelsat-1-F1Eutelsat

Eutelsat

Eutelsat-1-F2 / ECS-2 1984-08-04

Eutelsat-1-F3 / ECS-3 [failed] 1985-09-12

Eutelsat-1-F4 / ECS-4 1987-09-16

Eutelsat-1-F5 / ECS-5 1988-07-21 Eutelsat-1-F5

Eutelsat-2-F1 1990-08-30

Eutelsat-2 Eutelsat-2-F4 Eutelsat-2

Eutelsat-2-F2 1991-01-16

Eutelsat-2-F3 1991-12-07

Eutelsat-2-F4 1992-07-10

Eutelsat-2-F5 1994-01-24

French Telecommunications (Telecom) satellites:



Telecom-1A 1984-08-04 Telecom-1ATelecom-1

Telecom-1Telecom-1B 1985-05-08

Telecom-1C 1988-03-11

Telecom-2A 1991-12-16 Telecom-2A

Telecom-2B 1992-04-15

Telecom-2C 1995-12-06

Telecom-2D 1996-08-08

AUStralian communications SATellite (Aussat) / Optus series:



Aussat-A1 / Optus-A1 [STS-51I/Discovery-launched] 1985-08-27

Aussat-A

Aussat-A1

Aussat

Aussat

Aussat-A2 / Optus-A2 [STS-61B/Atlantis-launched] 1985-11-27 Aussat-A2

Aussat-A3 / Optus-A3 1987-09-16

Aussat-B1 / Optus-B1 1992-08-13

Optus-BAussat-B2 / Optus-B2 1992-12-21 Optus-B2

Aussat-B3 / Optus-B3 1994-08-27Optus-B3

Optus-B3


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Mexican Morelos-series satellites:



Morelos-1 (Morelos-A) [STS-51G/Discovery-launched] 1985-06-17 Morelos-1 Morelos-1Morelos

Morelos-2 (Morelos-B) [STS-61B/Atlantis-launched] 1985-11-27 Morelos-2

ARABian SATellite (Arabsat) series:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images

referencelaunch

coversother postal items

Arabsat-1E / Telstar-301 / Telstar-3A 1983-07-28

Telstar-301

Telstar-3

Telstar-3

Arabsat-1A 1985-02-08

Arabsat-1

Arabsat-1

Arabsat-1

Meteosat+EXOSAT+Intelsat-

5+Arabsat+Turksat

Arabsat-1DR / Anik-D2 / Telesat-8 /

Satcom-4R [STS-51A/Discovery-launched]1984-11-08 Anik-D2

Arabsat-1B [STS-51G/Discovery-launched] 1985-06-17 Arabsat-1B

Arabsat-1C / Insat-2DT 1992-02-26

Arabsat-2A 1996-07-09Arabsat-2

Arabsat-2B 1996-11-13

Arabsat-3A 1999-02-26 Arabsat-3A

Arabsat-4AR 2008-07-07 Arabsat-4AR

TURKish SATellite (Turksat) series:



Turksat-1A 1994-01-24 Turksat-1A Meteosat+EXOSAT+Intelsat-5+Arabsat+Turksat

Turksat-1B 1994-08-11

Turksat-1C 1996-07-09

Turksat-2 2001-01-10Turksat-2a

Turksat-2a

PAN-AMerican SATellite (Panamsat / PAS) series:



Panamsat-1 1988-06-15 Panamsat-1

Panamsat-2 1994-07-08

Panamsat-2/3/4Panamsat-4 1995-08-03

Panamsat-3R 1996-01-12

Panamsat-6 1997-08-07 Panamsat-6/7/8



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Panamsat-7 1998-09-16Panamsat-6/7/8

Panamsat-8 1998-11-04

Panamsat-6B 1998-12-22 Panamsat-6B


Panamsat-1R 2000-11-16 Panamsat-1R Panamsat-1R

Panamsat-10 2001-05-15

American Satellite Company (ASC) series:



ASC-1 [STS-51I/Discovery-launched] 1985-08-27 ASC-1

ASC-2 1991-04-13 ASC-2

Satellite Business Systems (SBS) series:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images

referencelaunch


SBS-1 (SBS-A) 1980-11-15 SBS-1 SBS-1

SBS-2 (SBS-B) 1981-09-24

SBS-3 (SBS-C) [STS-5/Columbia-launched] 1982-11-11 SBS-3

SBS-4 (SBS-D) [STS-41D/Discovery-

launched]1984-08-30 SBS-4

SBS-4 (STS-41D/Discovery-

launch)

SBS-5 1988-09-08

SBS-6 1990-10-12 SBS-6

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Satellite Data System (SDS) series:



SDS-1 1976-06-02

SDS-2 1976-08-06

SDS-3 1978-08-05

SDS-4 1980-12-13

SDS-5 / USA-4 1984-08-28

SDS-6 / USA-9 1985-02-08

SDS-7 / USA-21 1987-02-12

SDS-2-1 / USA-40 [STS-28R/Columbia-launched] 1989-08-08

SDS-2

SDS-2-1

SDS-2-2 / USA-67 [STS-38/Atlantis-launched] 1990-11-16 SDS-2-2

SDS-2-3 / USA-87 [STS-53/Discovery-launched] 1992-12-02 SDS-2-3

SDS-2-4 / USA-125 1996-07-03

SDS-3-1 / USA-137 1998-01-29

SDS-3-2 / USA-155 2000-12-06

SDS-3-3 / USA-162 2001-10-11

SDS-3-4 / USA-179 2004-08-31

SDS-3-5 / USA-198 2007-12-10


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Radio Corporation of America-SATellite COMmunications (RCA-Satcom)

series:



RCA-Satcom-1 (RCA-Satcom-A) 1975-12-13

RCA-Satcom-2 (RCA-Satcom-B) 1976-03-26

RCA-Satcom-3 (RCA-Satcom-C) 1979-12-07

RCA-Satcom-3R 1981-11-20

RCA-Satcom-4 1982-01-16

RCA-Satcom-5 1982-10-28

RCA-Satcom-6 (RCA-Satcom-F) 1983-04-11

RCA-Satcom-7 (RCA-Satcom-H) 1983-09-08

SATellite COMmunications (Satcom) series:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images

referencelaunch

covers

other postal

items

Satcom-4R / Anik-D2 / Telesat-8 / Arabsat-1DR

[STS-51A/Discovery-launched]1984-11-08 Anik-D2

Satcom-Ku2 [STS-61B/Atlantis-launched] 1985-11-27 Satcom-Ku2

Satcom-Ku1 [STS-61C/Columbia-launched] 1986-01-12 Satcom-Ku1

Satcom-C1 1990-11-20

Satcom-C4 1992-08-31

Satcom-C3 1992-09-10

Orion-series satellites:



Orion-1 / Telstar-11 1994-11-29 Telstar-11

Orion-2 / Telstar-12 1999-10-19 Telstar-12

Orion-3 1999-05-05 Orion-3

Estrela do Sul-series satellites:



Estrela do Sul-1 / Telstar-14 2004-01-11 Telstar-14

Estrela do Sul-2 / Telstar-14R 2011-? Telstar-14R

(Selected) Galaxy-series satellites:

Satellite Launch Images


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Date referencelaunch

covers

other postal

items

Galaxy-25 / Telstar-5 / Intelsat Americas-5 1997-05-24

Telstar-5/6/7Galaxy-26 / Telstar-6 / Intelsat Americas-6 1999-02-15

Galaxy-27 / Telstar-7 / Intelsat Americas-7 1999-09-25

Galaxy-28 / Telstar-8 / Intelsat Americas-8 2005-06-23 Telstar-8

Galaxy-23 / Telstar-13 / Intelsat Americas-13 /

Echostar-92003-08-08 Telstar-13

Galaxy-3R / Anik-ER2 1995-12-15

U.S. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) series:

SatelliteLaunch

Date

Images

referencelaunch

covers

other postal

items

TDRS-1 (TDRS-A) [STS-6/Challenger-

launched]1983-04-04

TDRS-1 (STS-6/Challenger-

launch)

TDRS-1

TDRS TDRS

TDRS-2 (TDRS-B) [STS-51L/Challenger-

launched, failed]1986-01-28

TDRS-3 (TDRS-C) [STS-26R/Discovery-

launched]1988-09-26

TDRS-4 (TDRS-D) [STS-29R/Discovery-

launched]1989-03-13

TDRS-5 (TDRS-E) [STS-43/Atlantis-

launched]1991-08-02

TDRS-6 (TDRS-F) [STS-54/Endeavour-

launched]1993-01-13

TDRS-7 (TDRS-G) [STS-70/Discovery-

launched]1995-07-13 TDRS-7

TDRS-8 (TDRS-H) 2000-06-30 TDRS-8

TDRS-9 (TDRS-I) 2002-03-08

TDRS-10 (TDRS-J) 2002-12-05

Russian Molniya-series satellites:



Molniya-1 series (1-1 — 1-31) 1965-04-23 — 1975-09-02

Molniya-1

Molniya-1

Molniya-1

Molniya-1

Molniya MolniyaMolniya-1S-1 1974-07-29 Molniya-1S

Molniya-1T series (1-32 — 1-93) 1976-01-22 — 2004-02-18

Molniya-2 series (2-1 — 2-17) 1971-11-24 — 1977-02-11 Molniya-2

Molniya-3 series (3-1 — 3-50) 1974-11-21 — 1999-07-08Molniya-3

Molniya-3

Molniya-3K series (3K-1 — 3K-3) 2001-07-20 — 2008-? Molniya-3K


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Israeli Affordable Modular Optimized Satellite (AMOS) series:



AMOS-1 1996-05-16 AMOS-1

AMOSAMOS-2 2003-12-27 AMOS-2

AMOS-3 2008-04-28 AMOS-3

(Selected) Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program (IDCSP) series:



IDCSP-1 1966-06-16

IDCSP

GGTS+IDCSP-1

GGTS+IDCSP-1

IDCSP-2 1967-01-18 IDCSP-2

IDCSP-4 1968-06-13 IDCSP-4

IDCSP-16+17+18+19 1967-07-01 DODGE DODGE+IDCSP-16+17+18+19+LES-5

(Selected) Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) series:



DSCS-2-03/04 1973-12-13DSCS-2

DSCS-2

DSCS-2-3+4

DSCS-2-07/08 1977-05-12 DSCS-2-7+8

DSCS-2-13/14 1979-11-21 DSCS-2-13+14

DSCS-3-B4/5 / USA-11/12 [STS-51J/Atlantis-launched] 1985-10-03 DSCS-3 DSCS-3-B4/5

DSCS-2-E14 / USA-43 1989-09-04

DSCS-3-A2 / USA-44 1989-09-04

Other (selected) U.S. communications satellites:



SCORE 1958-12-18 SCORE

Advent Canceled Advent

Tacomsat-1 / Tacsat-1 1969-02-09 TacsatTacomsat-1

Tacomsat-1

FltSatCom-5 1981-08-06 FltSatCom-5

BATSat / Teledesic-T1 1988-02-25 BATSat BATSat

ACTS [STS-51/Discovery-launched] 1993-09-12 ACTS ACTS

Iridium (series) 1995-05-05 — 2002-02-20 Iridium

Iridium

Iridium

Iridium

MUBLCOM 1999-05-18 MUBLCOMMUBLCOM

Other (selected) non-U.S. communications satellites:


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Satellite Country Launch Date

Images

referencelaunch


DFH-1 China (PR) 1970-04-23 DFH-1DFH-1

DFH-1

CTS / Hermes USA / Canada 1976-01-17 CTS CTS

Ekran / Statsionar

(series)Russia (USSR) 1976-10-26 —> Ekran

Ekran-M

Molniya-

3+Ekran+Gorizont-

14+53+90+140

Gorizont (series) Russia (USSR) 1978-12-19 —> Gorizont

Gorizont

Gorizont

Gorizont

Gorizont

Molniya-

3+Ekran+Gorizont-

14+53+90+140

APPLE India 1981-06-19 APPLE APPLE

Tele-X

Sweden,

Norway, and

Finland

1989-04-02 Tele-X Tele-X

Olympus / L-sat ESA 1989-07-12 Olympus

Olympus

Olympus

Intasat+Olympus

Hispasat-1B Spain 1993-07-22 Hispasat-1A Hispasat-1B

Solidaridad-1 Mexico 1993-11-20 Solidaridad-1 Solidaridad-1

Ekspress (series) Russia 1994-10-13 —> Ekspress Ekspress

Luch (series) Russia1994-12-16 —

1995-10-11Luch Luch

AsiaSat-2 Asia / China 1995-11-28 AsiaSat-2

DFH-3 China (PR) 1997-05-11DFH-3

DFH-3

Kwangmyongsong-1

[failed]

China

(PR)/Korea

(North)

1998-08-30 Kwangmyongsong-1

Kwangmyongsong-1

Kwangmyongsong-1

Kwangmyongsong

Atlantic Bird-1 Europe 2002-08-28 Atlantic Bird-1

Chinasat-20 China (PR) 2003-11-03 Chinasat-20

SpainSat-1 Spain 2006-03-11 SpainSat-1HotBird-

7A+SpainSat

Vinasat-1 Viet Nam 2008-04-18 Vinasat-1

Venesat-1 / Simon

BolivarVenezuela 2008-10-29 Venesat-1 Venesat

Kwangmyongsong-2

[failed]

China

(PR)/Korea

(North)

2009-04-05

Kwangmyongsong-2

Kwangmyongsong-2

Kwangmyongsong-2

Kwangmyongsong-2

Kwangmyongsong-2

Links to communications satellite information:

(The links below lead to information sources that are maintained by others. They are not part of this Website.)


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Czechoslovakia: Program Molniya

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This Website created and maintained by Don Hillger and Garry Toth.

Updated: 2011-08-01


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