AsiaSat readies new satellites for launch

Two new satellites for the Asian region have now arrived at the Cape Canaveral Air Force base in Florida in readiness for launches over the next few weeks.

Partners Space Systems/Loral (SSL) and Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) announced that AsiaSat 6 would be launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket next month, following the launch of AsiaSat 8 currently scheduled for next week.

SSL President John Celli said: “I’d like to congratulate everyone involved in successfully executing the logistics of both AsiaSat 8 and AsiaSat 6 at launch base and to thank our customer, AsiaSat for its ongoing confidence in SSL.”

AsiaSat 6 is designed to provide broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband services across the Asia-Pacific region. When launched, it will be positioned at 120 degrees East longitude where it will help fulfil the growing demand for satellite services.

AsiaSat President and Chief Executive Officer, William Wade, said: “SSL and AsiaSat designed AsiaSat 6 with the flexibility and capability to provide high quality and reliable satellite services across the Asia Pacific.”

Thaicom is a partner of AsiaSat on AsiaSat 6 and will be using half of the satellite’s capacity to provide services as Thaicom 7.

Equipped with 28 transponders, AsiaSat 6 has two beams, one global beam and one regional beam, offering region-wide coverage over Asia, Australasia, Central Asia, and the Pacific islands, with enhanced power and look angles over Pacific Rim countries.

AsiaSat 6 is based on the SSL 1300 platform and is the fourth satellite SSL has provided to AsiaSat.