Hughes Space and
Communications International Inc. has been selected by Asia
Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd., or AsiaSat, to build a
replacement satellite for AsiaSat 3.
The new satellite, to be designated AsiaSat 3S, is an exact
replica of AsiaSat 3. The AsiaSat 3 satellite, launched on Dec. 25,
1997 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, did not reach orbit
when the upper stage of the Proton rocket failed. AsiaSat 3S is
scheduled for launch onboard a Proton rocket in the first quarter of
1999. The satellite will be designed to provide a minimum of 15
years of service.
The new HS 601HP satellite will feature 9,900 watts of power and
will increase AsiaSat’s capacity to distribute television and
telecommunications services to Asia, the Middle East, Australasia
and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The satellite will carry
28 active C-band transponders, using 55-watt traveling-wave tube
amplifiers (TWTAs), and 16 active Ku-band transponders using 138-watt
TWTAs.
Just as in AsiaSat 3, these transponders will operate through
two 107-inch diameter-shaped surface antennas. One antenna,
mounted on the east side of the satellite and operating C-band, will
provide broad-band coverage for Asia and Australasia. The west-side
antenna will operate in Ku-band and provide focused area coverage
for East Asia.
A 50-inch diameter, dual-gridded-shaped surface antenna,
operating in Ku-band, will provide focused area coverage for South
Asia. In addition, a 40-inch-diameter Ku-band steerable spot-beam
antenna will allow AsiaSat 3S to direct coverage to any area on the
Earth’s surface that is visible from the spacecraft’s orbital
location.
The new AsiaSat satellite will be located at the geostationary orbit
of 105.5 degrees East longitude and will be controlled from an
integrated satellite control facility in Hong Kong, which was also
built by Hughes.
Hughes Space and Communications International is the contracting
organization for Hughes Space and Communications Co., the world’s
largest manufacturer of geostationary commercial communications
satellites and a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and
space exploration to the U.S. government.
