A failure of the fifth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite's orbit-raising propulsion system led the US Navy (USN) to halt the transfer of the communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit following its 24 June launch. MUOS 5 was projected to reach its geosynchronous orbit and enter its test location 35,400 km above Hawaii by 3 July. However, the transfer manoeuvre designed to move MUOS 5 from its initial elliptical launch orbit to its final circular geosynchronous orbit was halted, Steven Davis, a spokesperson for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), said in a 2 August statement.
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