Successful lift-off for AsiaSat 9
September 29, 2017
AsiaSat has announced the successful lift-off of AsiaSat 9, the company’s most powerful and advanced communications satellite. It is the fifth AsiaSat satellite built by SSL and the fifth launch collaboration with ILS’s Proton Breeze M rocket.
AsiaSat acquired the first signals from the satellite in Hong Kong 7 hours, 54 minutes after the launch, and approximately 9 hours, 13 minutes after lift-off, the AsiaSat 9 spacecraft successfully separated from the upper stage of the launch vehicle. AsiaSat 9 is now moving to its operational position in a Geostationary Orbit, where in-orbit testing will be carried out over the few weeks before it begins commercial service.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the mission teams of our long-time partners – Space Systems Loral, ILS and Khrunichev for their dedication and professionalism in making today’s launch a huge success. We are eager to see our customers and Asia-Pacific benefit from the quality and reliability of service AsiaSat 9 will make available,” said Andrew Jordan, President and Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.
This next generation satellite, based on the SSL 1300 platform, is designed to replace AsiaSat 4 and to provide multiple C, Ku and Ka-Band payloads for direct-to-home (DTH) television broadcast, video distribution, VSAT broadband networks and mobility services at 122 degrees East longitude. With features such as Asia’s highest powered 110 watts C-band TWTA, special filter design, star tracker and hall effect thrusters, AsiaSat 9 is able to deliver enhanced performance, higher efficiency and operational stability.
AsiaSat 9 will also offer brand new coverage for high growth markets in Asia, including the world’s first dedicated Ku-band Myanmar beam, high-power Ku-band beams for Indonesia and Mongolia, in addition to two enhanced Ku-band beams serving Australasia and East Asia, and a wide C-band footprint that offers significantly improved power over Asia, Australasia and the Pacific region.