Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

[3] 2. SUMMARY OF TECHNICAL FEATURES
The proposed communication system consists of a satellite repeater in a synchronous,
equatorial orbit operating in conjunction with two or more ground terminals, each of
which is linked by land lines or microwave relays to the appropriate domestic communication
systems.
The repeater consists of a transistorized UHF receiver and an L-band (2 KMC) transmitter
having a power output of 2.5 watts. Since the electrical power is supplied by solar
cells, the useful life of the repeater is expected to be limited only by the life of the transmitting
tube to about one year. Besides serving as the communication repeater, the receiver-transmitter
is also used as a guidance signal repeater, and the receiver additionally acts
as a command receiver.
The payload also contains a compressed nitrogen attitude and vernier velocity control
system, which provides for proper illumination of the solar cells, correct aiming of the
directional antenna, and precise adjustments of the orbit.
The ground terminals consist of a large aperture antenna shared by the 25-KW [kilowatt]
UHF transmitter and the low noise L-band receiver. The antenna reflector will be
fixed, and the small departures of the payload from an exactly stationary orbit will be followed
by moving the antenna feed.
The satellite is launched using the NASA Scout, and two additional solid-propellant
rockets are used to establish the desired orbit. The launching site will be Jarvis Island, an
equatorial island approximately 1300 nautical miles south of Hawaii. The use of this suitably
located equatorial site results in a large decrease in required propulsion system performance
and guidance complexity.
Further technical detail is furnished by the following sections of this proposal. . . .
[25] 6. PROGRAM COST
An estimate of the development cost of the communication system is given in Table
6-1, and an estimate of the cost of the entire program is given in Table 6-2.
The amount of confidence which can be placed in these figures is worth some discussion.
The costs of the Scout rocket, attitude guidance, launcher, and ground support
equipment were obtained from the Vought Astronautics brochure, “Space Research
Vehicle Systems Developed from NASA Scout,” published in August, 1959. The UHF TV
transmitter is a production item and its cost is firm. The cost of the ground antenna was
estimated by an experienced supplier of such devices. Island construction costs were estimated
by an overseas construction company which has had considerable experience with
[Atomic Energy Commission] projects in the Marshall Islands.
The development cost estimates were obtained from the individuals who would be
responsible for the various items. Although some variation in cost of particular items is to
be expected, the chances that the total will remain under the 1.2 million dollar figure
seems quite good, because of the strong appeal of the project to creative engineers and
the subsequent high degree of enthusiasm with which the job will be performed.
[26]
Payload
TWT $0.15 M
Electronics 0.15 M
Structure 0.05 M
5th and 6th Stages 0.25 M
Environmental Testing 0.10 M
Total $0.70 M
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN 37