Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will be busy building the ST-2 communications satellite for a joint venture between Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom Company Limited (Chunghwa), making this a transaction that is the first of its kind for Japan. President and CEO, Setsuhiro Shimomura announced the order to build the satellite as a joint venture between Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom Company Limited (Chunghwa) who jointly own the ST-1 and use this satellite in their various communications businesses. The ST-2 will succeed the ST-1 as their next communications satellite.
This order will make Mitsubishi Electric the first Japanese satellite manufacturer to enter the commercial communications satellite market outside Japan, using its original Japan-made satellite bus platform.
Since the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was established in 1969, Mitsubishi Electric has been a manufacturer contributing to Japanese space research and development, participating as the main contractor in close to half of NASDA’s domestic satellite development projects. The company has also been involved in more than 320 satellite projects overseas by, for example, providing satellite components.
Integrated with the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) on October 1, 2003 to form the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA). For the production of the ST-2, Mitsubishi Electric has proposed to use its original DS2000 satellite bus platform, which was developed based on the Engineering Test Satellite-8 (ETS-8) made for NASDA. The DS2000 was used in the Multi-functional Transport Satellite-2 (MTSAT-2) made for two organizations: the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and the Japan Meteorological Agency. It was also used in the Superbird-C2 made for SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. Using the DS2000 helps reduce cost while maintaining reliability.
As a result, Mitsubishi Electric has won the contract for the ST-2, having been recognized for its delivery schedule, contractual methodology and other aspects. The ST-2 will be Mitsubishi Electric’s first order for a commercial satellite using DS2000 received from outside Japan.
