spacetoday.net: Anomaly shuts down Telstar 4

Posted: Fri, Sep 19, 2003, 5:28 PM ET (2128 GMT)
A power problem has shut down Loral's Telstar 4 communications satellite, the company announced Friday afternoon. Loral reported that the primary power bus on the spacecraft suffered a short circuit at 8:56 am EDT (1256 GMT), causing the spacecraft to shut down. Loral has shifted most of the customers of that satellite to Telstar 5 and 6. The company is working with the satellite manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, to determine the problem and see if it can be corrected. Telstar 4 was launched in September 1995 and operates from 89 degrees west longitude, providing C- and Ku-band service for the continental US as well as Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and southern Canada. The spacecraft is scheduled to be replaced next year by Telstar 8, currently being built by Loral's satellite manufacturing subsidiary Space Systems/Loral. The satellite is also one of six that Loral announced in July it would sell to Intelsat for approximately $1 billion. Intelsat officials told Dow Jones Newswires that their agreement includes provisions to adjust the sale price in the event of something like a satellite failure.