AsiaSat 6 / Thaicom 7 satellite

AsiaSat 6 / Thaicom 7

China (Thailand?)

Spacecraft nº:

Chinese spacecraft nº: 229

Prime manufacturer	Space Systems/Loral (SS/L)
Platform	Loral LS-1300LL
Operator	Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company
Mass at launch	3700 kg
Dry Mass	kg
Basic shape
Dimension (m)
Equipment	28 high-power C-band transponders
Solar array	2 deployable solar arrays
Stabilization
Propulsion
DC power
Design lifetime	15 yrs

Date	Position	Remarks
20 Sep 2014	119.8°

The satellite will carry 28 high-power C-band transponders and has a 15-year mission life. AsiaSat 6 will be compatible with a range of commercial launch vehicles.
Satellite fleet operator Thaicom of Thailand has agreed in December 2011 to pay competitor AsiaSat of Hong Kong $171 million over 15 years for the use of one-half of an AsiaSat satellite to be placed in a Thai orbital position in an arrangement that will permit Thailand to preserve its rights to the slot Under the agreement, the AsiaSat 6 satellite will be 120° east longitude. Thaicom will have access to up to half of the satellite’s 28 C-band transponders and will pay AsiaSat $170 million in installments over the satellite’s 15-year life. The satellite will be renamed AsiaSat 6/Thaicom 7. Before its launch, AsiaSat and Thaicom placed AsiaSat 2 as an interim satellite at 120° east to retain Thailand’s regulatory rights to the slot.

On Sunday, September 7, 2014, SpaceX successfully launched the AsiaSat 6 satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 1:00 a.m. EDT from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. It reached a 175 x 202 km x 27.7 deg parking orbit and aproximately 32 minutes after launch, AsiaSat 6 deployed successfully into a 154 x 35752 km geosynchronous transfer orbit, at 25.4 degrees. AsiaSat established contact with the satellite shortly thereafter.
Asiasat is a Hong Kong based telecom company. The satellite has C and Ku band communications payloads and an additional C-band payload for the Thai operator Thaicom; this payload is marketed as Thaicom 7. The Loral-1300 satellite has a mass of 3700 kg according to the press kit, although Space News quoted 4428 kg.
On Sep 20, Asiasat 6 had reached a 35773 x 35800 km x 0.1 deg GEO over 119.8 deg E.
This marks the twelfth successful flight in a row for Falcon 9, and the second of two successful missions for AsiaSat this summer.

Ref.: #7(JR702,726), #14, #207, #228, #spacex.com - update: 03.06.16