Giant Intelsat V launched for communications relays

The world's largest communications satellite, the 4,251-pound Intelsat V, was launched after a delay because of a technical problem. The satellite, sponsored by the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization of 105 countries, is to be in a stationary orbit 22,300 miles high. It will be able to handle up to 12,000 telephone calls and two TV channels simultaneously, twice the capacity of any previous communications satellite. The first of a planned nine satellites, it was built by Ford Aerospace Communications Corporation, with some components from Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and West Germany.