A General Description of the Telstar Satellite

A description of the Telstar spacecraft presented in this paper is developed chronologically so that the reader may understand how each of the decisions influenced the design and construction which followed. Foremost in practical considerations affecting the satellite design was the selection of the Delta vehicle to launch the spacecraft. Another paper of the series1 outlines the needs for an orbit which would reach the vicinity of 3000 nautical miles apogee with a perigee of at least 500 nautical miles. The capability of the Delta vehicle to put a satellite into such an orbit, with the restriction of a launch from the Atlantic Missile Range and the desired inclination of the orbit plane to the equator of 45°, limited the permissible weight of the spacecraft to the order of 180 pounds. This weight limit was a severe restriction to incorporation of many ideas which were proposed early in the development. The second characteristic of the Delta which was influential in the Telstar spacecraft design was the existence of only two fairings and the decision not tw undertake the development of a new one. The larger of the two, which had been tested repeatedly in satellite launchings and was large enough for our purposes, was selected as one which would be suitable for the spacecraft, as described in Section IX. The third aspect 801