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Successful lift-off of AsiaSat 9
29 September 2017
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited announced successful
lift-off of AsiaSat 9, the company’s most powerful and advanced
communications satellite on 29 September at Baikonur time 00:52 a.m.
(02:52 a.m. Hong Kong Time). It is the 5th AsiaSat satellite built by
SSL and the 5th 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 innovative and cutting-edge 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.
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