Page 25 - Italy In Space
P. 25
Positioning, navigation and timing [2]
September 9,1982. Launch of Marecs B from Kourou, together with the fifth flight of the Ariane-1
rocket. The payload went lost during the launch, together the other payload Sirio 2, of due to third
stage turbopump malfunction. Commemorative cover postmarked on the day of launch in Kourou with
the machine Ariane-1 cancel.
February 9, 1984 launch of Marecs B2 to replace Marecs B that went lost in 1982. It was equipped
with three repeaters: shore-to-ship with 5 MHz bandwidth, ship-to-shore with 6 MHz bandwidth and
shore-to-shore with 0.5 MHz bandwidth, providing 35 two-way voice channels plus search and rescue
capabilities. Commemorative cover postmarked with the new standard Kourou manual postmark.
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