Nov 18 1983
From The Space Library
The European Space Operations Center (ESOC), at the request of the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT), completed a switching operation on board ESA's operational Maritime European Communications Satellite Marecs-A that increased the satellite's capacity from 30 simultaneous voice telephone channels to 46. ESOC completed the transfer in less than 10 minutes; thus, avoiding the need to transfer communications to the spare satellite and back again. The satellite provided the total of the Atlantic Ocean region shore-to-ship and ship-to-shore satellite communications.
Marecs-A was providing to INMARSAT its full capacity, one in excess of the contractual requirement of 40 voice telephone channels. The increased capacity seemed to bode well for Marecs-A to fulfill its design lifetime of seven years. (ESA Release, Nov 28/83)
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