GE-1 is owned by GE Americom and is a continuation of the old RCA/GE Satcom series. GE-1 has 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, and replaced Satcom K1. GE-1 was placed in a supersynchronous transfer orbit of 191 × 56495 km × 25.0 deg.
Geostationary OrbitLaunched in 1996-8, the Inmarsat-3s were built by Lockheed Martin Astro Space (now Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space) of the USA, responsible for the basic spacecraft, and the European Matra Marconi Space (now Astrium), which developed the communications payload.
Geostationary OrbitChinaSat 7 or ZX 7 (Zhongxing 7) is a Hughes HS-376 model geostationary telecommunications satellite built for the China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation (ChinaSat). It was the first satellite ChinaSat had ordered from a western spacecraft contractor, Hughes Space and Communications International, Inc., known today as Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc.
Geostationary OrbitSoyuz TM-24 was the 27th mission and the 22nd long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was also a part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program. The mission began on 17 August 1996, 13:18:03 UTC, launching Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Kaleri and Research Cosmonaut Claudie André-Deshays into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed several EVAs and various scientific experiments. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, STS-79 and STS-81, and welcomed aboard Soyuz TM-25 with the next expedition crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 2, 1997, 06:44:16 UTC.
Low Earth Orbit