Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Tsiklon-3 | Gonets-D 319 to 321 & Strela-3 113 to 115
Yuzhnoye Design Bureau | UkrainePlesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
Feb. 19, 1996, 12:58 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Gonets- satellite were the civilian derivate of the military Strela-3 satellite system. The Gonets system was offered to support international health organizations to meet their global communications needs for the transfer of medical data and records to remote sites. Strela-3 was the second generation of Russian strategic store-dump military communications satellite. Development of this generation to replace the first generation Strela-1M and Strela-2M satellites began in 1973.
Low Earth OrbitDelta 7925-8 | NEAR Shoemaker
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 17, 1996, 8:43 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) was a mission to rendezvous and orbit around an near earth asteroid (433 Eros). On the cruise to Eros, it flew by asteroid 253 Mathilde on 27 Jun 1997 and flew by earth on 23 January 1998. After failing to insert itself into Eros' orbit in January 1999, NEAR finally inserted itself into orbit around the asteroid on the second try on 14 February 2000. Initially in a 323 km × 370 km orbit, it lowered its altitude during observation. After reaching orbit, NEAR was renamed NEAR-Shoemaker.
Heliocentric N/A
Long March 3B | INTELSAT 708
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | ChinaXichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Feb. 14, 1996, 7:01 p.m.
Ariane 44P | N-Star b
Aérospatiale | FranceGuiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Feb. 5, 1996, 7:19 a.m.
Atlas IIAS | Palapa C1
Lockheed Martin | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 1, 1996, 1:15 a.m.
Proton | Gorizont 31
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Jan. 25, 1996, 9:56 a.m.
Kosmos-3M | Parus 85
Russian Space Forces | RussiaPlesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
Jan. 16, 1996, 3:33 p.m.
Delta II | Mugunghwa 2
United Launch Alliance | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Jan. 14, 1996, 11:10 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Koreasat 1 and 2, also known as Mugunghwa 1 and 2, were South Korean communications satellite launched by Delta-7925 rockets from Cape Canaveral. They were based on the Lockheed AS-3000 bus and carried 15 Ku-band transponders to provide TV coverage for South Korea and other Asian countries.
Geostationary Orbit
Ariane 44L | PAS 3R & MEASAT 1
Aérospatiale | FranceGuiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Jan. 12, 1996, 11:10 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
In November 1991, PanAmSat Corporation ordered three Hughes HS-601 model PAS (PanAmSat) satellites from Hughes Space and Communications Company. The satellites provide video services for program distribution and syndication; data services for business applications; and services for video, radio, data and telephone transmission. They were placed over the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, respectively. In August 1993, PanAmSat ordered a fourth satellite, to be used as a spare. The spare was pressed into service to replace the first PAS-3 spacecraft, which was lost during a launch vehicle failure. The MEASAT system will provide the first direct-to-user (DTU) service in Malaysia, as well as general communications services in an area reaching from India to Hawaii and from Japan to East Australia. Among DTU services are television and educational programs beamed to small (50-cm) home antennas. General regional communications services include telephony, television, data transmission, and business networks. Binariang is the first cellular operator in Malaysia to offer fully digital services.
Geostationary Orbit
Space Shuttle Endeavour / OV-105 | STS-72
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 11, 1996, 9:41 a.m.
