The West German TVSat operation.
Here is a piece of history - not only are the two satellites long retired but the country that operated them no longer exists! TVSat 1 & 2 were operated by West Germany,and were high powered DBS satellites, put into operation at about the same time as the two UK Marco Polo BSB satellites, the French TDF 1 & 2 birds, the experimental Olympus 1, Tele-X from Sweden and Hispasat 1 & 2 from Spain.
More details about some of these operations can be found in the Focus On... pages
TVSat 1 & 2 were Eurosatellite Spacebus 300 craft, and had a design lifetime of 9 years. Launch mass was 2140 kg, and they were rated at 4500 watts DC power at the beginning of their service. The craft were 2.4 x 1.6 x 6.4 m in size.
One of the TVSat satellites under construction:
This picture shows the individual parts of the spacecraft. The German translates as:
1 = Antenna Module
2 = Communications Module
3 = Operations Module
4 = Power Module (the number "4" was missed off the picture! I think its that
bit at the bottom of the pic)
5 = Solar Panels
This picture represents one of the TVSat satellites in operation in orbit at 19W:
The official footprint maps of the TVSat transmissions. This is all before the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the re-integration of the East and West Germany. The map of Europe looks very different these days!
TVSat 1 was launched on 21st November 1987 on Ariane flight V20 from Kourou. It had an unfortunate end. One of the solar panels didnt deploy - rumour has it that two bolts that secured it in place during transportation were not removed... The solar panel blocked the transmission antenna, and after several weeks of testing and technical deliberation, TVSat 1 was boosted to the junk orbit and abandoned. Maybe this satellite could be an ideal candidate for some future rescue mission as its nominally at least fully operational if the solar panel could be freed.
TVSat 2 was more successful. Its was launched 8th August 1989 on Ariane flight V33. It slotted successfully at 19.2°W and operated there until February 1995. It was then leased to another operator, and moved to 0.6°W. It stayed here for another 3½ years until October 1998. Eutelsat leased it at this point, and it was moved to 12.5°W. The TVSat 2 mission ended sometime in September 1999, and it was sent up to the junk orbit, safed and abandoned.
TVSat 2 was spotted by amateur astronomers as recently as May 2004 - it is now tumbling slowly as it drifts in space, and they spotted the flashes of the sunlight reflecting off its solar panels. :-)
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