Télécom 1A, 1B, 1C

Télécom 1A [CNES]

The first Telecom spacecraft, Telecom 1A, was launched by an Ariane booster on 4 August 1984. Operated by France Telecom under government sponsorship, Telecom satellites service both civilian and military users through twelve active and five reserve transponders operating at 6/4 GHz (four transponders), 14/12 GHz (six transponders), and 8/7 GHz (two X-band transponders). The last units provide the Syracuse (Systeme de Radio Communications Utilisant un Satellite) secure military channels for the French Ministry of Defense.

Telecom 1 satellites were designed and manufactured by Matra with the communications package supplied by Alcatel Espace. At the start of its 7-year design life, each Telecom 1 had a mass of approximately 700 kg and an initial electrical power capacity of 1.2 kW, supplied by two narrow solar arrays with a total span of 16 m. The spacecraft bus was derived from the earlier ECS program in which Matra was a subcontractor to British Aerospace. A total of three Telecom 1 satellites were launched (1984, 1985, 1988). Only Telecom 1C remained operational at the end of 1994 and was stationed at 3 degrees E after being moved from 5 degrees W in the Fall of 1992.