Intelsat VA F-15 was part of an advanced series of satellites designed to provide greater telecommunications capacity for Intelsat's global network, from an orbital station at 60.0° East.
The arrays, supplemented by nickel-hydrogen batteries during eclipse, provided 1800 watts of power at mission onset, approximately 1280 watts at the end of its seven-year design life.
It could accommodate 15,000 two-way voice circuits and two TV channels simultaneously.
[1] The satellite was successfully launched into space on 27 January 1989, at 01:21:00 UTC, by means of an Ariane 2 vehicle from the Crentre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, French Guiana.
Columbia Communications was granted the right to operate a C-Band satellite by the FCC as a replacement at the location, 37.8° West.