The nucleus " Te has been studied in heavy-ion y-ray spectroscopy experiments performed with the early implementation of the GAMMASPHERE multidetector array. Three rotational intruder bands have been observed up to high spins. The yrast band, involving the 4p2h (h»/z) (g7/p) (g9/2) proton configuration, reaches I=48fi, at an excitation energy of 30.3 MeV, the highest observed spin connected by y rays in this mass region. The band properties are interpreted in the framework of smooth band termination.PACS number(s): 21.10. Re, 23.20.Lv, 27.60.+j