ChinaSat () is the

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

s operated by China Satellite Communications.

History

In 2007, a joint venture China Direct Broadcast Satellite was formed to run the brand ChinaSat. It was a joint venture of state-owned companies China Satellite Communications, China Orient Telecommunications Satellite and

Sino Satellite Communications Sino Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. known also as SinoSat is a Chinese company. It provided satellite communications through a pair of communications satellites in geostationary orbit. Their two satellites were, SinoSat 1 and SinoSat 3. A t ...

. The latter was controlled by

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has subsidiaries which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic ...

(CASC). However, China Satellite Communications was changed from a direct subsidiary of the

State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) is a special commission of the People's Republic of China, directly under the State Council. It was founded in 2003 through the consolidation of vario ...

(SASAC) to a direct subsidiary of CASC in 2009, the joint venture was dissolved and Sino Satellite Communications became a subsidiary of China Satellite Communications. The brand ChinaSat was previously operated by China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation, which was owned by China's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation was merged with other state-owned companies to form

China Satellite Communications Corporation China Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. known as China Satcom is a Chinese aerospace company that provides services via satellites. The company was a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). China Satellite Communi ...

circa 2000. Satellites formerly operated by Sino Satellite Communications and China Orient Telecommunications Satellite were renamed with ChinaSat designations following the acquisition of China Satellite Communications by CASC. ChinaStar 1 became ChinaSat 5A, SinoSat 1 became ChinaSat 5B, and SinoSat 3 became ChinaSat 5C.

Satellites

ChinaSat 1x

The Zhongxing-1x (or ChinaSat-1x) series includes four spacecraft as of September 2022. Despite the ChinaSat designation the satellites are reportedly to be Fenghuo-2 military communications satellites manufactured by

CAST Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William * ...

and based on the

DFH-4 Dongfanghong () was a satellite program of the People's Republic of China. The program started in August 1965 as Project 651—a less ambitious successor to the earlier Project 581—with the goal of launching a satellite heavier than both Sputni ...

satellite bus. They follow the first generation of Fenghuo satellites, namely ChinaSat 22 and ChinaSat 22A. The first three satellites have been launched from the

Xichang Satellite Launch Center The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (), approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. The facility beca ...

using Long March-3B/G2 rockets while the fourth one has been launched from the

Wenchang Space Launch Site The Wenchang Space Launch Site ( zh, 文昌航天发射场, links=no), located in Wenchang, Hainan, China, is a rocket launch site — one of the two spacecraft launch sites of Xichang Satellite Launch Center (the other site is in Xichang, ...

using a

Long March 7A , stages = {{plainlist, * CZ-7: Two * CZ-7A: Three {{cite web, url=https://www.space.com/china-space-program-new-long-march-rockets.html, last=Jones, first=Andrew, title=China prepares to launch new rockets as part of push to boost spac ...

rocket, and in particular: * ChinaSat 1A was launched on 18 September 2011 at 16:33 UTC * ChinaSat 1C was launched on 9 December 2015 at 16:46 UTC * ChinaSat 1D was launched on 26 November 2021 at 16:40 UTC * ChinaSat 1E was launched on 13 September 2022 at 13:18 UTC The shift to a different launcher for the fourth satellite capable of carrying a greater mass to the intended geosynchronous orbit could indicate the use of a bigger and heavier satellite bus, possibly an upgraded version of the previously used

bus.

ChinaSat 2A

ChinaSat 2A was launched in 2012.

ChinaSat 2D

Zhongxing-2D (or ChinaSat-2D) was launched at 17:05 UTC on 10 January 2019 from the

using a Long March-3B/G3 from the LA-2 launch complex.

ChinaSat 2E

Zhongxing-2E (or ChinaSat-2E) was launched at 16:30 UTC on 5 August 2021 from the

using a Long March-3B/G3 from the LA-2 launch complex. The satellite is a military communication satellite and its real name is Shentong 2-05, with the ''ChinaSat'' denomination being a cover name.

ChinaSat 5A

ChinaSat 5A was launched in 1998, formerly known as ChinaStar 1. It was leased to China Satellite Communications's subsidiary

APT Satellite Holdings APT Satellite Holdings Limited is a Bermuda-incorporated holding company. Its Hong Kong-incorporated subsidiary APT Satellite Co., Ltd. is the operator of the Apstar satellite constellation. APT Satellite Holdings and APT Satellite are headquarte ...

and renamed to Apstar 9A on 9 January 2014.

ChinaSat 5B

ChinaSat 5B was launched in 1998, formerly known as Sinosat 1. It was sold to Pasifik Satelit Nusantara in 2012.

ChinaSat 5C

ChinaSat 5C was launched in 2007, formerly known as SinoSat 3. It was leased to

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

in 2011 (as

Eutelsat 3A Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellite ...

and then

Eutelsat 8 West D Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellite ...

ChinaSat 5D

ChinaSat 5D was launched in 1996, formerly known as Apstar 1A. It was placed in

geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

at a longitude of 51.5° East circa 2009. It was acquired by China Satellite Communications from subsidiary

ChinaSat 5E

ChinaSat 5E was launched in 1994, formerly known as Apstar 1. It was placed in

at a longitude of 142° East and moved to 163° East circa 2012. It was acquired by China Satellite Communications from subsidiary

ChinaSat 6

ChinaSat 6 (ZX 6, DHF-3 2) is a geostationary communications satellite and as its predecessor (DHF-3 1) it's based on the DHF-3 satellite bus. DHF-3 1 was launched on 29 November 1994 but didn't reach its intended orbit and was declared lost, while ChinaSat 6 was launched on 11 May 1997 and reached its intended orbit but experienced technical malfunctions that could reduce its operational life. Both launches took place in

using

Long March 3A The Long March 3A (), also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket design. It is a 3-stage rocket, and is usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchron ...

rockets.

ChinaSat 6A/6D

ChinaSat 6A (ZX 6A) was launched in 2010. Formerly known as SinoSat 6, it's a communications satellite based on the

satellite bus. It was launched on 4 September 2010 at 16:14 UTC from the

using a

Long March 3B The Long March 3B (, ''Chang Zheng 3B''), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocke ...

rocket, but after launch the satellite suffered problems in the helium pressurization system, which lead to a significant reduction of the operational life to only 11 years. For this reason it was replaced in 2022 by ChinaSat 6D (ZX-6D), based on the upgraded DHF-4E satellite bus, that was launched on15 April 2022 at 12:00 from the

using a

Long March 3B/E The Long March 3B (, ''Chang Zheng 3B''), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rock ...

ChinaSat 6B

The ChinaSat 6B satellite was manufactured by

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufacture ...

, based on the Spacebus 4000C2 platform. It has 38 transponders, and is being used for TV transmissions and shortwave jamming across China, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Oceania. It has a planned useful life of 15 years. The launch, on a

launch vehicle, was successfully conducted on 5 July 2007. The broadcast used for some shortwave radio jamming purposes in China is carried on one of the Chinasat 6B transponders. United States

ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a United States regulatory regime to restrict and control the export of defense and military related technologies to safeguard U.S. national security and further U.S. foreign policy objectiv ...

restrictions prohibited the export of satellite components for satellites launched on Chinese rockets. In response, Thales Alenia built ChinaSat 6B as an ITAR-free satellite, containing no restricted U.S. satellite components. However, the U.S. Department of State did not accept the ITAR-free status of these satellites and fined the U.S. company Aeroflex US$8 million for exporting satellite components. In 2013, Thales Alenia discontinued its ITAR-free satellite line.

ChinaSat 7

ChinaSat 7, a geosynchronous communications satellite launched in 1996, experienced third stage failure and a nearly unusable orbit.

ChinaSat 8

ChinaSat 8 was built by

Space Systems/Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

and scheduled for launch in April 1999 on a

launch vehicle. However, the U.S. Department of State blocked its export to China under

regulations. The satellite was sold to ProtoStar in 2006.

ChinaSat 9

ChinaSat 9 (ZX-9) was built by

and it's based on the Spacebus 4000C2 satellite bus. It was launched on 9 June 2008 at 12:15 UTC from the

using a

rocket. It was intended to act as a relay satellite for the 2008 Olympic Games, and to be subsequently used for general communications.

ChinaSat 9A/9B

ChinaSat 9A (ZX 9A) was initially intended to be a replacement for

Sinosat Sino Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. known also as SinoSat is a Chinese company. It provided satellite communications through a pair of communications satellites in geostationary orbit. Their two satellites were, SinoSat 1 and SinoSat 3. A ...

's Sinosat-2 communication satellite with the name Sinosat-4, and as its predecessor it's based on the

bus. In 2010

China Satcom China Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. known as China Satcom is a Chinese aerospace company that provides services via satellites. The company was a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). China Satellite Communi ...

took over the satellite and gave it the current name. It was launched on 16 June 2017 at 16:12 UTC from the

using a

rocket, but failed to reach the intended orbit due to an upper stage failure. After 16 days of orbit raising maneuvers it reached the planned

geosynchronous A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

orbit, but at the expense of 10 years of lifespan (out of 15). Due to its shorter than intended lifespan a replacement based on the upgraded DHF-4E bus, named ChinaSat 9B (ZX 9B), was launched on 9 September 2021 from the

using a

rocket reaching its orbit without any issues.

ChinaSat 10

ChinaSat 10 was based on the DFH-4 bus. It was launched in 2011. Formerly known as SinoSat 5.

ChinaSat 11

ChinaSat 11 was based on the

bus. It was launched in May 2013. ChinaSat 11 is used for Ninmedia, a free Indonesian TV network that provides many Indonesian TV stations.

ChinaSat 12

ChinaSat 12 was launched in 2012. Formerly known as Apstar 7B. A backup of

Apstar 7 Apstar-7 is a Chinese communications satellite which is operated by APT Satellite as part of the Apstar system. It was launched in 2012 as a replacement for the Apstar 2R satellite launched in 1997. Apstar-7 was constructed by Thales Alenia Spac ...

, Apstar 7B was acquired by China Satellite Communications from its subsidiary

in 2010. It was based on Thales Alenia Space Spacebus-4000C2.

ChinaSat 15

ChinaSat 15, aka Belintersat-1, was based on the

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus-d ...

. It was launched on 16 January 2016, at 00:57 (Beijing time).

ChinaSat 16

Initially known as

Shijian Shijian (, abbr. "SJ") is a series of satellites built and operated by the People's Republic of China. Some Shijian-series satellites have drawn significant concerns from the United States government and space observers who cite unannounced launc ...

13 (SJ 13), the satellite was launched on 12 April 2017 at 11:04:04 UTC into

geostationary transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellite, Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous orbit, geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into ...

using a

launch vehicle. As the Shijian designation suggests, it is an experimental satellite that is supposed to test the electric propulsion of the DFH-4S satellite bus. The satellite has also been used for

Ka-band The Ka band (pronounced as either "kay-ay band" or "ka band") is a portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as frequencies in the range 26.5–40 gigahertz (GHz), i.e. wavelengths from slightly over one centime ...

high bandwidth communications experiments for in-flight internet services, achieving an internet access capability of 150 Mbps. After its experimental phase, it was transferred to China Satcom which is currently operating it as ChinaSat 16 (ZX 16).

ChinaSat 18

ChinaSat 18 was launched at 12:03 UTC on 19 August 2019 from the

using a Long March-3B/E from the LA-2 launch complex. Although the launch was successful, the satellite would later malfunction in orbit and was later declared a total loss.

ChinaSat 19

ChinaSat 19 is a communications satellite launched on 5 November 2022 at 11:50 UTC from the

using a Long March-3B/E. The satellite will carry out the original duties of the ChinaSat 18.

ChinaSat 26

ChinaSat 26 (ZX 26) is a communications satellite that is scheduled to be launched on 14 January 2023. It will be China's first

high-throughput satellite High-throughput satellite (HTS) is a communications satellite that provides more throughput than a classic FSS satellite (at least twice, though usually by a factor of 20 or more) for the same amount of allocated orbital spectrum, thus significan ...

with a previously unmatched capacity of over 100 Gbps.

References

{{Chinese spacecraft Satellites orbiting Earth Communications satellites of China Communications satellite constellations Spacecraft launched by Long March rockets