No C-band for New Dawn Sat

By Doug Lung
published


SpaceNews.com reported last Friday that the Impaired New Dawn Satellite Also Had Trouble Deploying Ku-band Antenna. Peter B. de Selding, who has been following the New Dawn deployment on SpaceNews.com, said that New Dawn had trouble deploying its Ku-band satellite antenna. It was eventually deployed, according to one industry official. The article said the bird's C-band antenna is likely to remain useless though. According to a statement issued by Intelsat:

"The two antenna deployment 'outcomes' appear to be related. The investigation team will issue a report when it has completed its work. The satellite is operating nominally in all other respects and customer traffic is already transitioning to the satellite."

Readers should refer to the article for more information on the satellite and the impact that the failure to extend the C-band reflector is likely to have on the spacecraft's life.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.