Intelsat 2, formerly PAS-2, was a communications satellite operated by Intelsat which spent most of its operational life serving the Pacific Rim market from a longitude of 169° East. Launched in July 1994, the satellite was operated by PanAmSat until it merged with Intelsat in 2006. The spacecraft was renamed, along with the rest of PanAmSat's fleet, on 1 February 2007.

Satellite description

PAS-2 was constructed by the Hughes Aircraft Corporation, based on the HS-601 satellite bus. It had a mass at launch of 2920 kg, which decreased to around 1727 kg by the time it was operational. Designed for an operational life of 15 years, the spacecraft was equipped with 20 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders. Its two solar panels, which had a span of 26 m generated 4.7 kW of power when the spacecraft first entered service, which was expected to drop to around 4.3 kW by the end of the vehicle's operational life.

Launch

Arianespace launched PAS-2, using an Ariane 4 launch vehicle, flight number V65, in the Ariane 44L H10+ configuration. The launch took place from ELA-2 at the Centre Spatial Guyanais at 23:05:32 UTC on 8 July 1994. The satellite was placed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), from which it raised itself into geostationary orbit by means of an R-4D-11-300 apogee motor.

Intelsat 2

Intelsat 2 (PAS-2), launched in January 1996, the satellite was operated by PanAmSat until it merged with Intelsat in 2006. The spacecraft was renamed, along with the rest of PanAmSat's fleet, on 1 February 2007.

Decommissioning

Intelsat 2 was removed from geostationary orbit in February 2011, being placed into graveyard orbit on 28 February 2011. Manoeuvring into graveyard orbit did not fully deplete the satellite's propellant as had been expected, so engineering operations continued until July 2011 in order to exhaust the remaining supply. The satellite was then decommissioned and powered down.