NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1993-015A
UFO 1 (UHF Follow On 1) was a US Navy satellite launched to replace the FLTSATCOM and Leasat spacecraft currently sopporting the Navy's global communications network, serving ships at sea and a variety of other US military fixed and mobile terminals. It was compatible with ground- and sea-based terminals already in service.
The UHF F/O satellites offered increased communications channel capacity over the same frequency spectrum used by previous systems. Each spacecraft had 11 solid-state UHF amplifiers and 39 UHF channels with a total of 555 kHz bandwidth. The UHF payload compresed 21 narrow band channels at 5 kHz each and 17 relay channels at 25 kHz. In comparison, FLTSATCOM offered 22 channels. The F-1 through F-7 spacecraft included an SHF (super high frequency) subsystem, which provided command and ranging capabilities when the satellite was on station as well as the secure uplink for Fleet Broadcast service, which was downlinked at UHF.
Each satellite measured more than 60 feet long from the tip of one three-panel solar array wing to the tip of the other. These arrays generated a combined 2500 watts of electrical power on the first three satellites, 2800 watts for F-4 through F-7, and 3800 watts for F-8 through F-10 with GBS. The arrays were folded against the spacecraft bus for launch, forming a cube roughly 11 feet per side.
This satellite was placed in an unusable orbit.
Launch Date: 1993-03-25
Launch Vehicle: Atlas-Centaur
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States
Mass: 2866 kg
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office