1992 · Ministry of Aerospace Industry
Optus B2
failureLong March 2E | Optus B2
Australian communications satellite built by Hughes Space and Communications Company in California.
Overview
- Date / time
- December 21, 1992 at 11:21 AM UTC
- Outcome
- failure
- Launch site
- Launch Complex 2 (LC-2)
- Mission
- Optus B2
- Mission type
- Communications
- Orbit achieved
- Geostationary Orbit
FailureStructural failure of payload fairing or satellite 48 seconds after launch destroyed the satellite.
The launcher continued its flight to low earth orbit, where it successfully jettisoned the debris. The cause of the failure has never been identified with certainty.