AsiaSat 5 was launched August 12th on an ILS Proton launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, described as a new generation communications’ satellite of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat). The next news report, nine hours and 15 minutes after liftoff announced that AsiaSat 5 successfully separated from the launch vehicle. AsiaSat in Hong Kong acquired the first signals from the satellite.
Photo courtesy of Loral
Over the next few days, the satellite will arrive at the geostationary orbit, some 36,000 km above the Equator. Based on a Space Systems/Loral’s 1300 satellite bus, AsiaSat 5 is designed to replace AsiaSat 2 at the orbital location of 100.5 degrees East, and to provide advanced satellite services including television broadcast, telephone networks and VSAT networks for broadband multimedia services across Asia Pacific.
“We are extremely pleased that AsiaSat 5 has successfully completed this stage of the launch. We gratefully thank our partners, International Launch Services, Khrunichev and Space Systems/Loral for their diligence, dedication and professionalism that contribute to this launch success,” said Peter Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.
“We look forward to serving our AsiaSat 2 users with enhanced power and coverage on AsiaSat 5. In addition, with the added capacity and new coverage beams onboard AsiaSat 5, we shall further expand our services into new areas and offer more comprehensive backup services across AsiaSat fleet.”
“The success of AsiaSat 5 is the result of many hours of dedication and hard work by both the AsiaSat and SS/L teams,” said John Celli, President and Chief Operating Officer of Space Systems/Loral. “The satellite will contribute to AsiaSat’s continuous success, and help this premier satellite operator to strengthen and expand its services throughout the Asia-Pacific region.”
When on orbit testing is completed, AsiaSat 5 will replace AsiaSat 2 at 100.5 degrees East longitude, where it will provide video distribution, broadband networking and other important communications services. Its global C-band beam will cover 53 countries spanning from Russia to New Zealand and from Japan to the Middle East and parts of Africa. The satellite also has two high-power fixed Ku-band beams over East Asia and South Asia, and a steerable Ku beam to address changing market demand in the region.
AsiaSat 5 is based on SS/L’s 1300 space-proven platform, which provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. With the launch of AsiaSat 5, there are 57 Space Systems/Loral satellites currently on orbit.
