Key FPQ-6 Mission Activity
- Antenna structure
- Tracking and Ranging
- Brief system details
- RCA Computer
- Key Q6 Mission Activity
- Research activity
- BDA, CRO & RCA: Q6 partners
- Other Q-6 tales
Back to Station Equipment
A full catalogue of Carnarvon FPQ-6 tracking would be a potted history of US space exploration post Mercury. The following group examples pinpoint highlights of Carnarvon’s radar activity in order of the first track in each group.
- Communications satellites
- Echo-2, a rigidized 30.5m passive communications sphere, launched on 25 January 1964 was the first object in space tracked by Carnarvon. It was followed soon after on 19 August by Syncon-3, the first truly synchronous communications satellite.
Echo passive communications satellite: Image - NASA
- Three communications satellites vital to NASA’s communications with its remote tracking stations followed. Intelsat-2A failed to reach a synchronous orbit but before it decayed managed to relay the first few minutes of TV transmission form Carnarvon to England as Down Under Comes Up Live on 26 October 1966. Intelsat-2B followed on 11 January 1967 to become Pacific-1 – Carnarvon’s communications satellite link to the US. Intelsat-2C on 23 March 1967 became Atlantic-1.
- The SKYNET-1A UK military communications satellites was successfully placed in synchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean on 22 November 1969. SKYNET-1B on 19 August 1970 failed due to a faulty apogee motor and SKYNET-2A launched in January 1974 became lost and shortly after was discovered in a lower Earth orbit by Carnarvon from which it could not be rescued.
- Telesat-A, a Canadian domestic communications satellite launched on 9 November 1972, failed to reach the correct orbit; nevertheless, Carnarvon, acquiring it a little behind schedule, was able to generate new tracking parameters to enable successful acquisitions by both Hawaii and Bermuda. The satellite subsequently established a successful synchronous orbit.
- By mid 1997 535 domestic communications satellites had been launched. About 50 of these would have been supported by Carnarvon before its FPQ-6 ceased tracking in mid-1975
- Apollo/Saturn
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- Ranger
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- Gemini/Agena
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- Pioneer
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- Surveyor
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- Lunar Orbiter
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- WRESAT
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- OV series
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- Skylab
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- AE-C
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