Comparison of the Sirius satellites.
Sirius 4 added to table 27th March 2005. Details will be added when they become available.
The main satellite comparison index
| Satellite: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| . | (note 1) | . | . | |
| Launch | 27 / 8 / 1989 | 12 / 11 / 1997 | 5 / 10 / 1998 | 17 / 11 / 2007 |
| Launch Location | Cape Canaveral | Kourou | Kourou | Baikonur |
| Launch Mass (kg) | 1250 | 2980 | ? | ? |
| Expected Lifetime (years) | 10 | 15 | 12 | 15 |
| Power Consumption (watts) | 1024 | ? | ? | ? |
| Transponder Capacity at launch | 5 (+1 spare) | 32 | 15 | 46 Ku
band tp's 1 Ka band tp |
| TWTA Output (watts) | 55 (note 2) |
85 (note 3) |
? | ? |
| Transponder Bandwidth (MHz) | 27MHz | 26 @
33MHz 6 @ 36MHz |
33 MHz | ? |
| Channels (MHz) | 11700-12500 | 11700-12500 12500-12750 |
11700-12500 | ? |
| Current Location | junk orbit | 4.8°E | 5.0°E | will be 5.0°E |
| Possible Decommission Date |
5 /
2003 (note 4) |
2012 | 2011 | 2022 |
| Manufacturer / Spacecraft type | Hughes HS-376 | Alcatel Spacebus-3000B2 |
Hughes HS-376HP | Lockheed Martin A2100AX |
| Stabilisation type | spin | 3-axis | spin | 3-axis |
Notes
1 Originally Marcopolo 1 - operated for the shortlived BSB operation until the early 1990's. Latterly known as Sirius 1 & Sirius W.
2 2 transponders could be strapped together to double the transmission power of 1 channel.
3 European beam. The Scandanavian beam is rated at 55W
4 decommisioned from 13W & sent to graveyard orbit May 2003 :-(
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