LAUNCH MISSION
USAF Atlas IIA Orion 1
Launch Pad
Launch Complex 36A
Description
The Orion 1 telecommunications satellite, launched in November 1994, was the first purchase of a European satellite by a US-based company. Its 34 Ku-band transponders serve Europe, the United States to the Rocky Mountains and parts of Canada and Mexico, providing video for broadcast and business television, high-speed Internet access and multimedia services, broadband and data networking.
Atlas IIA
Rocket Description
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. It was designed to launch payloads into low earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. Sixty-three launches of the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS models were carried out between 1991 and 2004; all sixty-three launches were successes, making the Atlas II the most reliable launch system in history.