Intelsat VA F-14 was part of an advanced series of satellites designed to provide greater telecommunications capacity for Intelsat's global network.
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.
[3] The satellite was successfully launched into space on 31 May 1986, at 00:53:03 UTC, by means of an Ariane 2 vehicle from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, French Guiana.
[4] During the Ariane 2 maiden flight, the third stage had a partial ignition followed by another ignition above nominal pressure which led to the engine's failure and the destruction of the launcher.