United States Air ForceThor Delta MSpace Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
INTELSAT III F-6
Launched
January 15, 1970
Image: NASA
Summary
INTELSAT III F-6 launched on an United States Air Force Thor Delta M from Space Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA on January 15, 1970. It was United States Air Force's 511th launch, 2nd this year and humanity's 1,049th orbital launch attempt. It was the 7th Thor Delta M flight and the 1st this year. The payload was bound for Geostationary Orbit (Direct-GEO). INTELSAT III F-6, one of 2 catalogued objects, reached a 275 × 35,758 km orbit inclined 28.0°. 2 objects from this launch are catalogued, one of them a payload.
- Watch
- No webcast on record.
- Vehicle
- Thor Delta M · United States Air Force
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Communications · Geostationary Orbit (Direct-GEO)
- Milestone
- 7th Thor Delta M flight · 1st this yearUnited States Air Force's 511th launch2nd this yearhumanity's 1,049th orbital launch attempt3rd orbital launch attempt this year
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
INTELSAT III F-6 · NORAD 4297 · 1970-003 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 2 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- INTELSAT 3-F6
- Object ID
- 1970-003A
- Epoch
- 1970-01-15 16:59:59 UTC
- Mean motion
- 2.27957118 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.727486
- Inclination
- 28.0393°
- Ascending node
- 295.2205°
- Arg. of perigee
- 180.5571°
- Mean anomaly
- 197.4994°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 1
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: Direct-GEO.
Catalogued objects
2 catalogued: 1 payload, 1 rocket stage; 1 still in orbit
- INTELSAT III F-6 · NORAD 4297
Delta 75 Stage 3 · in orbit
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
The Intelsat 3 spacecraft were used to relay commercial global telecommunications including live TV. Three of the 8 satellites in the series (F1, F5, F8) were unusable due to launch vehicle failures, and most of the remainder did not achieve their desired lifetimes.
Pad

Space Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
45th launch from Space Launch Complex 17A, 1st this year · 243rd from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
145 launches from this pad · 1,131 from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
53 days after the previous launch from this pad
Questions
When did INTELSAT III F-6 launch?
INTELSAT III F-6 launched on January 15, 1970. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch INTELSAT III F-6?
No webcast is on record for this launch.
What rocket launched INTELSAT III F-6?
Thor Delta M, flown by United States Air Force. Thor Delta M spec sheet
Where did INTELSAT III F-6 launch from?
Space Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA.
What orbit did INTELSAT III F-6 reach?
INTELSAT III F-6, one of 2 catalogued objects, reached a 275 × 35,758 km orbit inclined 28.0°.
How many satellites did INTELSAT III F-6 launch?
1 payload from this launch is catalogued (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).
