Symphonie-B Press Kit

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NASA6 NewstN. National Aeronautics and

Space AdministrationWashington. D.C. 20546AC 202 755-8370

Fo r Release:IMMEDIATE

PR ESS IT PROJ ECT: SYMPHONIE-BRELEASE NO: 75-234 ContentsGENERAL RELEASE ........................... 1-4DELTA 2914 LAUNCH VEHICLE ................. 5MAJOR DELTA 114 SYMPHONIE FLIGHT EVENTS... 6LAUNCH OPERATIONS ......................... 7SYMPHONIE/DELTA 114 TEAM .................. 7-8

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National Aeronautics an dSpace AdministrationWashington. DC 20546AC 202 755-8370/. ;

W Fear ReleaseNicholas PanagakosHeadquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE1h (Phone: 202/755-3680)Joe McRobertsGoddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.(Phone: 301/982-4955)

RELEASE NO: 75-234

SYMPHONIE-P SET FOR AUG. 26 LAUN1CH

NASA will launch the second French/German communicationssatellite aboard a Delta rocket from Kennedy Space Center,Fla., no earlier than Aug. 26.

The launch marks the 47th time that a non-NASA grouphas purchased a Delta and complete launch services from thespace agency.

Called Symphonie-B, the experimental satellite still testand demonstrate communications equipment for television,radio, telephone, telegraph and data transmission.

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The spacecraft will provide the equivalent of twochannels of color television transmission and eight voicechannels, or 1,200 telephone circuits.

t Traveling at a speed that maintains its position inrelation to the Earth's surface, Symphonie will be located35,900 kilometers (22,300 miles) over the equator at 11.5degrees west longitude.

The satellite will be capable of transmitting betweenground stations in portions of South America, Europe andAfrica.

Weighing 402 kilograms (886 pounds), the spacecrafthas a diameter of 1.85 meters (6.06 feet) and a height of0.5 m (1.64 ft.) and includes an apogee motor engine andnozzle, super high frequency antenna feed and reflectors,reception horn, solar sensors, VHF antennas and threeattached solar panels extending outward 2.57 m (8.3 ft.)from the spacecraft.

Power is generated by the solar panels. Two batteriessupply power for spacecraft housekeeping during eclipseswhen transmitting equipment cannot be operated.

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Liquid fuel is used for Symphonie's apogee motor,which will be ignited by ground command to place thesatellite into its final synchronous orbit.SYmphonie-A, launched by a Delta vehicle in Decermber1974, marked the first use of liquid fuel for an apogeemotor of a spacecraft planned for synchronous orbit.

The Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN) andminitrack tracking stations of NASA's Goddard Space FliahtCenter, Greenbelt, Md., will provide backup tracking supportto the Symphonie project during the transfer orbit (launch-through-apogee motor firing) in cooperation with French andGerman ground stations. Data will go via the NASA Communi-cations Switching Center in Madrid to the O-erations ControlCenters at Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, German,, and atToulouse, France.

The French-German Symphonie organization consists ofthe French space agencv, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales(CNES), and the German counterpart, the Bcreichi 'uerProjecttragerschaften (BPT). A Franuo-,er-an industrial con-sortium, Consortium Industriel Franco-Allernand pour Symphonie(CIFAS), is the prime contractor. Three German and threewrench companies make up the consortium.

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The French firms are Societe Nationale Aerospatiale,Societe Anonyme de Telecommunications (SAT) and Thomson-CSF. Germany's are AEG-Telefunken, Messarschmitt-Boalkow-Blohm (MBB) and Siemens, A.G.

The Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible forproject management of the Delta project, Kennedy SpaceCenter is responsible for launch support and the primecontractor is McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., HuntingtonBeach, Calif.

Robert Baumann is Associate Director of Projects forDelta at the GSFC. Peter Eaton, Office of Space Science,NASA Headquarters, is Delta Program Manager. John Neilonis Director of Unmanned Launch Operations at KSC. The NASAProject Manager for the Symphonie missions is Robert Gossof GSFC.

The Symphonie Project is managed by a Franco-GermanExecutive Committee. The French executive secretary isJack Muller and the German executive secretary is Dr. GeorgeMoesl. Dr. Burk Pfeiffer is Symphonie Satellite GroupManager. Pierre Madon is CIFAS Project Group Manager.

The Symphonie launch window extends from 9:42 p.m. to10:10 p.m. EDT.(END OF GENERAL RELEASE. BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS.)

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-5-DELTA 2914 LAUNCH VEHICLE

The spacecraft will be launched by a 2914 three-stageDelta launch vehicle, which has an overall length of approx-imately 35 meters (116 feet), and a body diameter of 2.4 m(8 ft.). The Delta launch vehicle has a success-to-launchratio of 93 per cent for the past 15 years.First Stage

The first stage is a McDonnell Douglas extended-long-tank Thor booster incorporat.ing nine strap-on ThiokolCastor II solid-fuel rocket motors. The booster is poweredby a Rocketdyne RS-27 engine using liquid oxygen (LOX) andliquid hydrocarbon propellants. The main engine is gimbal-mounted to provide pitch and yaw control from liftoff tomain-engine cutoff (MECO). Two liquid propellant vernierengines provide roll control throughout first stage operationand pitch and yaw control from MECO to separation of thefirst and second stages.Second Stage

The second stage is powered by a TRW TR-201 liquid-fuelpressure-fed engine that uses aerozine 50 fuel and N204oxidizer and is gimbal-mounted to provide pitch and yaw con-trol through second-stage burn. A nitrogen gas system usingeight fixed nozzles provides roll control during powered andcoast flight as well as pitch and yaw control during coastand after second-stage cutoff (SECO). Two fixed nozzles,fed by the propellant-tank helium-pressurization system,provide retro-thrust after third-stage separation.Third Stage

The third stage is the Thiokol TE-365-4 spin-stabilizedsolid-propellant motor. The third-stage motor is secured ina spin table mounted to the second stage. The firing ofeight small propellant rockets fixed to the spin table accom-plishes spinup of the third stage assembly.Injection Into Synchronous Orbit

The Delta vehicle places the spacecraft in an ellipticalsync-transfer orbit. The spacecraft apogee motor will befired at the fourth apogee cf the orbit about 40 lhours afterlaunch. This maneuver will circularize the orbit at synchronousaltitude above the equator. The spacecraft hydrazine attitudecontrol system is used to drift the satellite to its finalstation at 11.5 degrees west longitude. About a month afterlaunch, following checkout of the onboard communicationssystems, the spacecraft will become operational.-more-

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LAUNCH OPERATIONb

The John F. Kennedy Space Center's Unmanned LaunchOperations Directorate plays a key role in the preparationand launch of the three-stage, thrust-augmented Deltarocket carrying the Symphonie-B spacecraft, which will beDelta mission 114.The Delta 114 first stage was erected on Pad A (lastlaunch from 17A pad was OSO-H Sept. 29, 1971) at Complex17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 30. Four ofthe nine solid strap-on rocket motors were mated with the

first stage on July 9 and the remaining five were mated onJuly 10. The Delta second stage was erected on Tuly 11.The Symphonie spacecraft was received at KSC on June 24,checked out in Hangar S at Cape Canaveral Air Force Stationand moved to the pad for mating with Delta. The payloadfairing which will protect Symphonie during its flightthrough the atmosphere will be placed atop Delta 114 fourdays before launch.The three-day countdown leading to launch is conductedby a joint NASA/industry team.

SYMPHONIE/DELTA 114 TEAMNASA HeadquartersDr. Noel Hinners Associate Administratorfor Space ScienceJoseph Mahon Director, Launch Vehicle-,and Pronulsion PrograrsPeter Eaton 1anager, Delta ProgrdmIsaac Gillam Manager, Small Launch Vehiclciand International Programs

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Kennedy Space CenterLee R. Scherer Director

John J. Neilon Director, Unmanned LaunchOperationsHugh A. Weston, Jr. Manager, Delta LaunchOperationsWilliam R. Fletcher, Jr. Manager, Delta SpacecraftOperationsDavid Bragdon Spacecraft Proiect Engineer

Goddard Space Flight CenterDr. John F. Clark DirectorRobert Baumann Associate Director ofProjects for DeltaRobert Goss Head, Spacecraft CoordinationBranch, Delta, and NASAManager for Symphonie

MissionsCharles Gunn Technical Director andDeputy Project Manager,

Delta

August 1.9, 1975

Symphonie-B Press Kit

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