Telstar 18 Satellite Reaches Its Orbital Position

Loral Space & Communications announced today that the Telstar 18 satellite has reached its intended orbital position and still has enough fuel to last for its designed 13 year lifetime. An anomoly caused the Zenit-3SL launcher to shut down 54 seconds early on 28 June, leaving the satellite in a lower than intended orbit. Operators used the stationkeeping fuel margin to boost the spacecraft to its proper orbit. The satellite is currently undergoing in-orbit testing and should be operationally deployed in August. (related articles: Telstar 18 Satellite Launched)

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