The DFS series of satellites debuted in 1989 with the third being launched in 1992.
Ordered in 1983 and produced by the GESAT consortium of MBB (flight segment prime
contractor), Siemens (overall prime contractor), ANT Nachrichtentechnik (payload),
Standard Elektrik Lorenz (digital switching equipment), and Dornier Systems (ground
control system), DFS spacecraft are smaller than TV-Sat:
on-station mass of DFS is 850 kg with a 15.4 m solar array span providing up to 1.5 kW of
electrical power.
The communications payload includes ten 14/11-12 GHz transponders with five spares and
one experimental 30/20 GHz transponder with one spare. At the end of 1994 DFS 1-3 were
stationed at 33.5 degrees E, 28.5 degrees E, and 23.5 degrees E, respectively. Like
TV-Sat, the DFS Kopernikus series has been concluded.
DFS 3 was leased to the greek Hellas Sat in 2002 as a stop-gap measure. It was retired
in 2003.
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