Sep 8 1988
From The Space Library
An ESA Ariane 3 launch vehicle carrying two U.S. communications satellites was launched from the Kourou launch facility in French Guiana. The Ariane 3 was carrying the 1.3-ton G-STAR III and 1.2-ton SBS 5 telecommunications satellites, both designed for television, telephone, and digital data transmission. Upon reaching low-Earth orbit, the G-STAR satellite failed to boost itself into its planned 23,000-mile geosynchronous orbit. (FBISLat-8-175, Sep 9/88; SSR 1998 081C-D; AP, Sep 7/88; Reuter, Sep 7/88; W Post, Sep 9/88; NY Times, Sep 15/88; WSJ, Sep 15/88; W Post, Sep 15/88)
A guidance system malfunction caused the Soviet Mars Observer spacecraft Phobos 1 to wobble out of control on its way toward Mars. The spacecraft stopped responding to commands from Soviet ground controllers and was rapidly losing power as it was unable to properly orient its solar panels toward the Sun. Phobos 2 continued to function normally. (UPI, Sep 9/88; NY Times, Sep 9/88; W Times, Sep 9/88)
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