The Communications Technology Satellite (CTS), known as Hermes,[1] was an experimental high-power direct broadcast communications satellite. It was a joint effort of Canadian Department of Communications, who designed and built the satellite, NASA who tested, launched and operated the satellite, and European Space Agency (ESA) who provided the 1200 watts solar panels and other devices. The three agencies shared the satellite and the data from the experiments.
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Names | CTS Hermes |
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Mission type | Communications |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1976-004A ![]() |
SATCAT no. | 08585 |
Mission duration | 2 years (planned) 3 years, 9 months (achieved) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Communications Research Centre Canada |
Launch mass | 680 kg |
Power | 1200 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 17 January 1976, 23:28:00 UTC |
Rocket | Delta-2914 (D-119) |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-17B |
Contractor | McDonnell Douglas |
Entered service | 21 May 1976 |
End of mission | |
Last contact | October 1979 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Geosynchronous orbit |
Longitude | 116.0° West |
Epoch | 17 January 1976 |
Transponders | |
Band | Ku band |
Although the launch of the ATS-6 spacecraft in 1974 marked the end of NASA's program of experimental communications satellites. NASA participated in a Canadian satellite venture known initially as "Cooperative Applications Satellite-C" and renamed Hermes. This joint effort involved NASA and the Canadian Department of Communications. NASA's Lewis Research Center provided the satellite's high-power communications payload. Canada designed and built the spacecraft; NASA tested, launched, and operated it. Also, the European Space Agency provided one of the low-power traveling-wave tubes and other equipment. Hermes was launched 17 January 1976 and operated until October 1979.[2]
It was launched on 17 January 1976, from Cape Canaveral in Florida by a Delta 2914 rocket. Designed for a two-year mission it was the basis of experiments past its intended lifetime until October 1979 when a system failure broke all contacts with it. Unlike most communications satellites of the period, which had spin-stabilized bodies covered with solar cells, the Hermes CTS was three-axis stabilized and had its solar panels spread out on two huge "wings".
The satellite was meant to test the practical aspects of a high powered satellite using large antennas beaming television signals directly to homes equipped with small antennas, and two-way communications with mobile stations.[3] When it was launched it was the most powerful communications satellite in existence.
This three-axis stabilized satellite was designed as a test vehicle to carry communications-related equipment. The purpose of its launch into an equatorial, Earth-synchronous orbit was:[1]
The spacecraft was a short (1.17-m) right cylinder (1.8-m diameter) with two parallel (1.72-m apart) plane surfaces symmetrically truncating the curved surface. These plane surfaces were also parallel to the cylinder axis. Relatively long, narrow (1.3- by 6.5-m) solar arrays were extendable from mechanisms mounted on the parallel plane sides.[1]
The CTS satellite also made history as being the first communications satellite used for video art, by artist Keith Sonnier in 1977 for his 2-part piece titled "Send/Receive Satellite Network", in which video and character generator text and graphics were fed over the satellite between the East and West Coasts of the United States. This marked the first time that satellite communication technology was used for video art. NASA cooperated with Sonnier's project and provided a satellite uplink truck for access to the CTS satellite. The piece was produced in two parts, "Phase I", which was a critique of satellite technology and whether it would become accessible to the public rather than the commercial and military purposes for the technology at that time, using feeds sent over the satellite by the artist and other participants, and "Phase II", which featured excerpts of the feeds sent.
Several communities in the Canadian wilderness participated in a series of realistic tests of its capacities. Experiments in telemedicine for Emergency medical services, teleconferencing and community TV were conducted. The satellite was also used in May 1978 to televise Stanley Cup hockey playoffs to Canadian diplomats in Peru to demonstrate its international capacity. This was the first direct-to-home satellite television broadcast in the world. It covered about 40% of the Earth's surface, from its geostationary orbit. In Canada alone, 37 tests were done using a family of 27 ground terminals. The experiments led to the creation of the hybrid Anik B satellite which was both a standard Anik model and a platform for pilot projects of direct broadcast TV.
In 1987, Canada's Department of Communications and NASA received an Emmy Award for developing direct broadcast TV satellite technology with the Hermes CTS program.
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← 1975 · Orbital launches in 1976 · 1977 → | |
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Kosmos 787 | Kosmos 788 | Helios 2 | Hermes | Kosmos 789 | Molniya-1 No.40 | Kosmos 790 | Kosmos 791 · Kosmos 792 · Kosmos 793 · Kosmos 794 · Kosmos 795 · Kosmos 796 · Kosmos 797 · Kosmos 798 | Kosmos 799 | Intelsat IVA F-2 | Kosmos 800 | CORSA-A | Kosmos 801 | Kosmos 802 | Kosmos 803 | Kosmos 804 | OPS 5140 | Marisat 1 | Kosmos 805 | Ume 1 | Kosmos 806 | Molniya-1-33 | Kosmos 807 | LES-8 · LES-9 · Solrad 11A · Solrad 11B | Kosmos 808 | Kosmos 809 | Molniya-1 No.42 | OPS 7600 | Kosmos 810 | Satcom 2 | Kosmos 811 | Kosmos 812 | Meteor No.37 | Kosmos 813 | Kosmos 814 | NATO 3A | Kosmos 815 | Kosmos 816 | OPS 6431 · OPS 6431 SSU-1 · OPS 6431 SSU-2 · OPS 6431 SSU-3 | LAGEOS-1 | Kosmos 817 | Molniya-3 No.16 | Comstar 1A | Meteor-Priroda No.2-1 | Kosmos 818 | Kosmos 819 | Kosmos 820 | Wideband | Kosmos 821 | Kosmos 822 | OPS 7837 | Kosmos 823 | Kosmos 824 | Marisat-3 | Kosmos 825 · Kosmos 826 · Kosmos 827 · Kosmos 828 · Kosmos 829 · Kosmos 830 · Kosmos 831 · Kosmos 832 | Kosmos 833 | Interkosmos 15 | Salyut 5 | Kosmos 834 | OPS 2112 | Kosmos 835 | Kosmos 836 | Kosmos 837 | Kosmos 838 | Soyuz 21 | OPS 4699 · OPS 5366 · OPS 3986 | Kosmos 839 | Palapa A1 | Kosmos 840 | Kosmos 841 | Kosmos 842 | Kosmos 843 | Kosmos 844 | Comstar 1B | Molniya-1 No.43 | Kosmos 845 | Interkosmos 16 | NOAA-5 | Kosmos 846 | Kosmos 847 | OPS 7940 | Luna 24 | Kosmos 848 | Kosmos 849 | Kosmos 850 | Kosmos 851 | Kosmos 852 | Ji Shu Shiyan Weixing 3 | Kosmos 853 | Triad 3 | Kosmos 854 | OPS 5721 | Gran' No.12L | Soyuz 22 | OPS 8533 | Kosmos 855 | Kosmos 856 | Kosmos 857 | Kosmos 858 | Unnamed | Kosmos 859 | Soyuz 23 | Marisat-2 | Meteor No.35 | Kosmos 860 | Kosmos 861 | Kosmos 862 | Kosmos 863 | Ekran No.11L | Kosmos 864 | Kosmos 865 | Kosmos 865 | Unnamed | Kosmos 866 | Kosmos 867 | Prognoz 5 | Kosmos 868 | Kosmos 869 | Kosmos 870 | Molniya-2-16 | Fanhui Shi Weixing 3 | Kosmos 871 · Kosmos 872 · Kosmos 873 · Kosmos 874 · Kosmos 875 · Kosmos 876 · Kosmos 877 · Kosmos 878 | Kosmos 879 | Kosmos 880 | Kosmos 881 · Kosmos 882 | Kosmos 883 | Kosmos 884 | Kosmos 885 | OPS 5705 | Kosmos 886 | Molniya-3 No.17 | Kosmos 887 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets). |