Orbit Type: GEO > Geosynchronous > Geostationary

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[Source: NASA NSSDC, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1983-041A ]

GOES 6 was launched in April 1983 and was a NASA-developed, NOAA-operated,
geosynchronous, and operational ... spacecraft. The cylindrically shaped
spacecraft measured 190.5 cm in diameter and 230 cm in length, exclusive of a
magnetometer that extended an additional 83 cm beyond the cylinder shell. The
primary structural members were a honeycombed equipment shelf and thrust tube.
The VISSR telescope was mounted on the equipment shelf and viewed the Earth
through a special aperture in the side of the spacecraft. A support structure
extended radially out from the thrust tube and was affixed to the solar panels,
which formed the outer walls of the spacecraft and provided the primary source
of electrical power. Located in the annulus-shaped space between the thrust
tube and the solar panels were stationkeeping and dynamics control equipment,
batteries, and most of the SEM equipment. Proper spacecraft attitude and spin
rate (approximately 100 rpm) were maintained by two separate sets of jet
thrusters mounted around the spacecraft equator and activated by ground
command. The spacecraft used both UHF-band and S-band frequencies in its
telemetry and command subsystem. A low-power VHF transponder provided
telemetry and command during launch and then served as a backup for the primary
subsystem once the spacecraft attained orbit.

The spin-stabilized spacecraft carried a visible infrared spin-scan radiometer
atmospheric sounder, meteorological data collection and transmission system,
space environment monitor, and a biaxial fluxgate magnetometer. GOES 6 was
moved from its 135 degrees West position to a more central 98 degrees West
position when GOES 5 failed on July 29, 1984.

For more information on GOES satellites:
http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goes/

http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goes/
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1983-041A