N E A News

National Aeronautics and

Space Ad ministration
Washington. D C 20546
AC 202 755-8370

For Release TUESDAY,

November 7, 1978

Press Kit Project NATO III-c

RELEASE NO: 78-171

Contents

GENERAL RELEASE .................................... 1-3

DELTA LAUNCH VEHICLE 2914 STATISTICS............... 4-5

NATO III-C SEQUENCE OF EVENTS.... .................. 6

NASA/NATO/USAF LAUNCH TEAM.. ....................... 7-8

CONTRACTORS. ....................................... 8

Mailed:
November 2 , 1978
I N ! News
!
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Washington, D C 20546
AC 202 755-8370

For Release
David Garrett
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. TUESDAY,
(Phone: 202/755-3090) November 7 , 1978

Donald Witten
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 3 01/9 8 2 -4 95 5 )

RELEASE NO: 78-171

LAUNCH OF NATO COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE SET

The launching of NATO 111-C, the third and final commun-

ications satellite in a new series to serve the North American
Treaty Organization (NATO), is scheduled Wednesday, Nov. 15,
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla. The
launch window that day extends from 8:25 to 8:45 p.m. EST.

Under terms of a United States-NATO agreement, the

satellite will be launched by a Delta rocket. NATO will
reimburse NASA $8.9 million for the launch vehicle and launch
services.
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 The s a t e l l i t e w i l l p r o v i d e an i n - o r b i t backup t o t h e

NATO 1 1 1 - A and B s a t e l l i t e s i n t h e NATO I n t e g r a t e d Communi-

c a t i o n s System ( N I C S ) .
The D e l t a launch v e h i c l e w i l l b o o s t t h e s a t e l l i t e i n t o
an e l l i p t i c a l t r a n s f e r o r b i t w i t h a l t i t u d e s ranging from 1 8 5
k i l o m e t e r s (115 m i l e s ) t o 35,787 km (22,234 m i . ) . The f l i g h t

p a t h w i l l t a k e t h e NATO 111-C across t h e e q u a t o r a t a 27-

d e g r e e a n g l e of i n c l i n a t i o n .

About t w o days a f t e r l a u n c h , a s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t r o c k e t

on t h e s a t e l l i t e w i l l be f i r e d when t h e NATO 111-C r e a c h e s

t h e h i g h p o i n t of i t s o r b i t . T h i s maneuver w i l l c i r c u l a r i z e

t h e o r b i t a t 35,787 km ( 2 2 , 2 3 4 m i . ) and remove i t s i n c l i n -

a t i o n by d i v e r t i n g t h e s a t e l l i t e t o t r a v e l along t h e p l a n e

of t h e e q u a t o r .

The NATO 111-C w i l l be allowed t o d r i f t eastward u n t i l

it r e a c h e s i t s planned s t a t i o n above t h e e q u a t o r . There,

i t s movement w i l l be stopped by f i r i n g a hydrazine-fueled

j e t system which w i l l d r i v e t h e s a t e l l i t e up t o t h e geosyn-

chronous o r b i t a l a l t i t u d e of 3 5 , 9 0 0 km (22,300 mi.).

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 -3-

A t the geosynchronous altitude, NATO 111-C will orbit

the Earth once every 2 4 hours "synchronized" with the 2 4 -
hour rotation period of the planet. This will keep the
satellite on sldtion over the same spot above the equator.

On behalf o f NATO, the U . S . Air Force Satellite Control

Facility (SCF) network will assume control of NATO 111-C once
it is in its transfer orbit. The U . S . Air Force Space and
Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) serves as the satellite
contracting agency for the NATQ Integrated Communications
System Management Agency.

The Delta project is managed by the Goddard Space

Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for NASA's Office of Space
Transportation Systems. Kennedy Space Center is responsible
for launch operations. Prime contractor for Delta is
McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., Huntington Beach, Calif.

F o u r previous NATO satellites were launched successfully

by Delta. These include the NATO 11-A and B spacecraft in
March 1970 and February 1971; the NATO 111-A in April 1976;
and the NATO 111-B in January 1977.

Funded entirely by NATO, the NATO I11 spacecraft were

built by Ford Aeronutronic and Communications Corp., Palo
Alto, Calif.
(END OF GENERAL RELEASE. BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS.)
 -4-

DELTA LAUNCH VEHICLE 2914 STATISTICS

The NATO 111-C spacecraft will be launched by a three-

stage Delta 2914 launch vehicle. This launching will mark
the 140th for the Delta rocket which has achieved an impres-
sive performance record of more than 90 per cent. The launch
vehicle has the following general characteristics:
Height: 35.4 m (116 ft.) including shroud

Maximum Diameter: 2.4 m (8 ft.) without attached

solids
Liftoff Weight: 131,895 kg (293,100 lb.)
Liftoff Thrust: 1,765,315 newtons (396,700 lb.)
including strap-on solids
First Stage
An extended long-tank Thor, produced by McDonnell
Douglas has RS-27 engines produced by the Rocketdyne Division
of Rockwell International. This stage has the following
characteristics:
Height: 21.3 m (70 ft.)
Diameter: 2.4 m (8 ft.)

Propellants: R J - 1 kerosene as the fuel and liquid

oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer
Thrust: 912,000 N (205,000 lb.)
Strap-on solids consist of 9 TMX-354-5 Castor I1
solid-propellant rockets produced by the Thiokol Chemical
Corp. with the following features:
Height: 7 m (23 ft.)
Diameter: 0.8 m (31 in.)
Propellants: Solid
Thrust: 2,083,000 N (468,000 lb.) for nine
231,400 N ( 52,000 lb.) for each

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 -5-

Second Stage
Produced by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., this
uses a TRW TR-201 rocket engine; major contractors for the
vehicle inertial guidance system located on the second
stage are Hamilton Standard, Teledyne and Delco. The second
stage has the following characteristics:
Height: 6.4 m (21 ft.)

Diameter: 1.5 m (5 ft.)

Propellants: L i q u i d , consisting of Aerozene 5 0 for
the fuel and nitrogen tetroxide (N204)
f o r the oxidizer
Thrust: About 42,943 N ( 9 , 6 5 0 lb.)

Third Stage
A TE-364-4 motor produced by Thiokol Chemical Co.,
with the following characteristics:
Height: 1.4 rn (4.5 ft.)
Diameter: 1 m (3 ft.)
Propellants: Solid
Thrust: 61,855 N (13,900 lb.)

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 NATO 111-C SEOUENCE OF EVENTS
A1 t i t u d e Velocity
r
cvent T i me K i 1 ometers/Mi l e s Km/Hr MPh

Liftoff 0 sec. 0 0 0 0

S i x solid motor burnout 38 sec. 5.9 3.7 1,407 874

Three sol i d motor i g n i t i o n 39 sec. 6.2 3.8 1,400 870

Three s o l i d motor b u r n o u t 1 min. 17 sec. 21.4 13.3 2,975 1,848

Nine s o l i d motor j e t t i s o n 1 min. 27 sec. 25.9 16 3,269 2,031

Main engine c u t o f f (MECO) 3 min. 43 sec. 92.2 57.3 17,928 11,149

First/second stage separation 3 min. 51 sec. 98.4 61.2 17,901 11,123

Second s t a g e i g n i t i o n 3 min. 56 sec. 101 63 17,903

11,124 I
m
F a i r i n g j e t t i son 4 min. 37 sec. 124.7 78 18,592 11,552 I

Second s t a g e f i r s t c u t o f f (SECO-1) 8 min. 51 sec. 160 100 26,802 16,654

Second s t a g e r e s t a r t 21 min. 39 sec. ? 77 110 26,728 16,607

Second s t a g e second c u t o f f (SECO-2) 21 min. 49 sec. 178 110 27,161 16,877

T h i r d s t a g e s p i n up 22 min. 39 sec. 181 112 27,148 16,868

Second/third stage separation 22 min. 41 sec. 181 112 27,147 16,868

T h i r d staqe i g n i t i o n 23 min, 22 sec. 184 114 27,133 16,859

T h i r d stage b u r n o u t 24 min. 46 sec. 190 118 35,377 21,981

T h i r d stagejspac2craft separation 25 min. 15 sec. 225 140 35,260 21,900

T r a n s f e r o r b i t apogee 5 hours 39 min. 35,796 22,237 6,462 4,015

 -7-

NASA/NATO/USAF LAUNCH TEAM

NASA Heaquarters

J o h n F. Yardley Associate A d m i n i s t r a t o r
O f f i c e of Space T r a n s p o r t a t i o n
Systems

J o s e p h B. Mahon D i r e c t o r of Expendable Launch

V e h i c l e Systems, OSTS

P e t e r T. Eaton Manager, D e l t a Program, OSTS

Goddard Space F l i g h t C e n t e r

Dr. Robert. S. Cooper Director

Robert E . SmYlie Deputy D i r e c t o r

Robert Baumann Associate D i r e c t o r f o r Space

Transportation

David W. Gimes D e l t a P r o j e c t Manager

William R. Russell Deputy D e l t a P r o j e c t Manager,

Technical

Robert G o s s Manager, D e l t a Mission

A n a l y s i s and I n t e g r a t i o n

P h i l i p Frustace NATO 1 1 1 - C Mission

I n t e g r a t i o n Manager
W i l l i a m Hawkins M i s s i o n O p e r a t i o n s and Network
S u p p o r t Manaqer

Ray Mazur M i s s i o n Support

Kennedy Space C e n t e r

L e e R. Scherer Director

G e r a l d D. Griffin Deputy D i r e c t o r

Dr. W a l t e r J. Kapryan D i r e c t o r of Space V e h i c l e s

Operations

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- _ _.;
 -8-

KSC
c _ _
(cont'd.)
,,

G e o r p F, Page D i r e c t o r , Expendable Vehicles

W. C. T h a c k e r C h i e f , Delta O p e r a t i o n s Divisinn
Bert L. Grenville Complex 1 7 , O p e r a t i o n s Manaqer
Jollr, , r , Dunn Spacecraft Coordinator

Program Yanager, USAF/SAMSO

CONTRACTORS

Foru A e r o n u t r o n i c and Spacecraft

C o m n , m i c a t i o n s Corp.
Palo Alto, C a l i f .

McDc me11 Douglas Delta Launch V e h i c l e

A s t r o n a u t i c s Co.
H u n t i n g t o n Beach, C a l i f .

-end-