Success
INMARSAT III F-3
Communications
Lockheed Martin(LMT)Commercial
Atlas IIA
Direct-GEOorbit
Launched 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.
Wednesday, December 18, 1996 at 1:57 AM
Mission details
Orbital Attempt
#4,115
LMT Mission
#22
Pad Launch
#46
Location Launch
#523
Designator
1996-070
Launch Window
NET
Dec 18, 1996, 1:57 AM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
Timezone
America/New_York
Local Launch Time
Dec 17, 1996, 8:57 PM
Total Launches
1,109
Total Landings
75
Coordinates
28.4889, -80.5778
Atlas IIA Specs
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. It was designed to launch payloads into low earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. Sixty-three launches of the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS models were carried out between 1991 and 2004; all sixty-three launches were successes, making the Atlas II the most reliable launch system in history.
Length
47.54 m
Diameter
3.04 m
Launch Mass
204 t
Thrust
2,479 kN
LEO Capacity
6,580 kg
GTO Capacity
2,810 kg
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
1992
Fastest Turnaround
10d 8h
Total Launches
23
Successful
23
Failed
0
Consecutive Success
23
Maiden flight: Jun 10, 1992
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin's Space Division started in the production of missiles and later ICBM's in the 1950s. Their TITAN missile system was used for 12 Gemini spacecraft and the Voyager probes. They have worked largely in collaboration with NASA on many of their probes, landers, and spacecraft, and hope to play a key role in NASA's return to the moon in 2024.
Founded
1953
Total Launches
80
Successful
77
Failed
3
Pending
0
Consecutive Success
38