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Thuraya 1

Thuraya 1 [Boeing BSS]

Thuraya-1 is the first satellite in the Boeing GEM (Geomobile) series. This product line expands Boeing's offerings beyond satellite manufacturing, to integrate a high-power geosynchronous satellite (derived from the Boeing BSS_702 body-stabilized design) with a ground segment and user handsets, to provide a range of cellular-like voice and data services over a large geographic region. The Thuraya ground segment includes terrestrial gateways plus a collocated network operations center and satellite control facility in the UAE.

Thuraya offers GSM-compatible mobile telephone services, transmitting and receiving calls through a single 12.25-meter-aperture reflector. The satellite employs state-of-the-art on-board digital signal processing to create more than 200 spot beams that can be redirected on-orbit, allowing the Thuraya system to adapt to business demands in real time. Calls are routed directly from one handheld unit to another, or to a terrestrial network. The system has the capacity for 13,750 simultaneous voice circuits.

Thuraya 1 suffers from a generic failure of the early BSS-702 / GEM model: the fogging of the concentrator mirrors on the solar arrays leads to reduced available power.

Nation: United Arab Emirates
Type / Application: Communication
Operator: Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co.
Contractors: Hughes
Equipment: L-band 128 active elements, 17 W SSPAs C-band 2 active (2 spare)
Configuration: HS-GEM (Geomobile)
Propulsion: R-4D
Power: 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries
Lifetime: 12 years
Mass: 5108 kg
Orbit: GEO
Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
Thuraya 1 2000-066A 21.10.2000 SL Zenit-3SL (1)

References:

Further Thuraya missions:

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