Telstar 4 Satellite Fails Due to Short Circuit

A short circuit of the primary power bus onboard the Telstar 4 communications satellite occurred at 8:56 am EDT on 19-Sept-03. The satellite's owner, Loral Skynet, was unable to repair the malfunction. Telstar 4 coverage includes the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and southern Canada. Loral Skynet immediately made capacity available to most Telstar 4 customers, many of whom have already had their services restored on Loral's Telstar 5 and Telstar 6 satellites.


Telstar 4 was launched in September 1995. Telstar 8, currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral, will replace Telstar 4, as planned, at 89 degrees West in mid-2004.
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