China launches commercial communications satellite
Posted: Tue, Apr 12, 2005, 7:22 PM ET (2322 GMT)
A Chinese Long March booster launched a Western-built commercial communications satellite late Tuesday. The Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 8:00 am EDT (1200 GMT, 8 pm Beijing time) Tuesday and successfully placed the APStar 6 communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The 4,600-kg satellite, an Alcatel Spacebus 4000 C1, carries 38 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders and will be located in GEO at 134 degrees east. The satellite will be used by APT Satellite Holdings to provide communications services to much of the Asia-Pacific region; the company noted that the Ku-band payload, equipped with anti-jamming technologies, will primarily be used for China. The launch was the first to carry a Western-built payload since the United States enacted export control restrictions on satellite technology destined for China. To get around those restrictions, Alcatel replaced components usually supplied by US manufacturers with alternatives from non-US companies.
A Chinese Long March booster launched a Western-built commercial communications satellite late Tuesday. The Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 8:00 am EDT (1200 GMT, 8 pm Beijing time) Tuesday and successfully placed the APStar 6 communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The 4,600-kg satellite, an Alcatel Spacebus 4000 C1, carries 38 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders and will be located in GEO at 134 degrees east. The satellite will be used by APT Satellite Holdings to provide communications services to much of the Asia-Pacific region; the company noted that the Ku-band payload, equipped with anti-jamming technologies, will primarily be used for China. The launch was the first to carry a Western-built payload since the United States enacted export control restrictions on satellite technology destined for China. To get around those restrictions, Alcatel replaced components usually supplied by US manufacturers with alternatives from non-US companies.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
FAA restricts hours for commercial launches during shutdown
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 9:05 AM ET (1405 GMT) China postpones Shenzhou-20 return on orbital debris concerns
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, November 15
Emirates to put Starlink on aircraft in major win for SpaceX
Bloomberg News — 5:11 am ET (1011 GMT) DOJ Issued Seizure Warrant to Starlink Over Satellite Internet Systems Used at Scam Compound
Wired News — 5:09 am ET (1009 GMT) New Glenn Rocket Aces Launch and Landing, Setting Up Space Force for More Options
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 5:06 am ET (1006 GMT) Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket landed its booster on a barge at sea – an achievement that will broaden the commercial spaceflight market
The Conversation — 5:05 am ET (1005 GMT) Second Viasat Broadband Satellite Enters Space
Aviation Week — 5:04 am ET (1004 GMT) |
