The satellite, now known as HGS-1, passed behind the moon at noon PDT May 13 and returned to Earth, making its closest approach about 8 p.m. PDT Saturday. Instead of doing the planned retro burn at that time, Hughes' mission controllers fired the satellite's motor for a shorter period of time, allowing the satellite to glide into a looping 15-day orbit. An additional small burn on June 1 will send the satellite toward its second lunar encounter.

"While the first pass by the moon was completely successful and accomplished all of our objectives, we always said we were going for the best obtainable orbit," said HGS President Ronald V. Swanson. "A second lunar flyby will make the orbit even better and will increase the satellite's attractiveness to potential customers. We do not plan any additional lunar maneuvers since additional passes will result in diminishing improvements."

When the satellite was sent into space last Christmas, the launch vehicle malfunctioned and left the spacecraft in an unusable, highly elliptical orbit. Most communications satellites operate from a circular orbit around the equator.

By sending the satellite around the moon, Hughes used lunar gravity to improve the resulting orbit once the satellite returned to Earth.

When HGS obtained title to the satellite last month, it agreed to try to find revenue-producing uses for the satellite and to share profits with the insurers. A consortium of 27 insurers had owned the satellite after the original mission was declared a total loss. HGS' primary business is packaging satellite communications services for governmental entities, although it is actively seeking commercial interest in the entire satellite as well.

"Our orbital analysts have done a fantastic job of planning this mission and predicting the satellite's trajectory thus far," Swanson said. "So we challenged them to evaluate whether we could improve the orbit further.

"They said one more loop around the moon would improve the orbit, with little impact on the satellite's operational life -- so we're going for it," Swanson said.

The new mission plan involves the same number of post-lunar motor firings, four. Only the times and durations have changed. The first burn successfully occurred Saturday night, as scheduled. That burn reduced the satellite's speed by roughly one-half of what was originally planned. Saturday night's burn placed HGS-1 into a 15-day orbit with an apogee -- the farthest distance from the Earth -- of about 293,000 miles (488,000 km).

A second, smaller burn, scheduled for June 1, will nudge the satellite into position for its second lunar encounter on June 6. The spacecraft will pass the moon's surface from a distance of 27,000 miles (43,000 km), which is about seven times farther than the initial lunar encounter on May 13. An additional motor firing is planned for June 12, to further position the satellite for its final orbit. The final burn, currently scheduled for June 13, will place the HGS-1 spacecraft into geosynchronous orbit.

Hughes Global

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