Sino Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. known also as SinoSat is a Chinese company. It provided satellite communications through a pair of

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 in

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

. Their two satellites were, SinoSat 1 and SinoSat 3. A third satellite, SinoSat 2, failed shortly after launch.

History

Sino Satellite Communications was formed in 1994. It was a subsidiary of

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). In 2007, a new joint venture () was formed with another state-owned company

China Satellite Communications 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 ...

, which SinoSat 1 and other assets was injected to the joint venture as

share capital A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. "Share capita ...

. However, in 2009 China Satellite Communications was assigned as a subsidiary of CASC by 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 variou ...

(excluding some assets that were assigned to

China Telecommunications Corporation China Telecommunications Corporation (Chinese: 中国电信集团有限公司), known as its trading name China Telecom, is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed-line service and the third largest mobile tel ...

). Since then, Sino Satellite Communications became a subsidiary of China Satellite Communications, with all the satellites were under the brand

ChinaSat ChinaSat () is the brand name of communications satellites 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- ...

instead. In 2016 Sino Satellite Communications sold a 15% stake of a company () to Shenglu Telecommunication.

Satellites

SinoSat 1

Sinosat-1 was built by

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

using a

Spacebus 3000 Spacebus is a satellite bus produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in France by Thales Alenia Space. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary communications satellites, and seventy-four have been launched since development started ...

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 by 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 ...

carrier rocket A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

from the

Xichang Satellite Launch Centre 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 ...

at 09:20 GMT on 18 July 1998. It was placed into a geostationary orbit, and is currently operating in a slot at 110.5° East of the

Greenwich Meridian The historic prime meridian or Greenwich meridian is a geographical reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, England. The modern IERS Reference Meridian widely used today ...

. It was redesignated Chinasat 5B.

SinoSat 1C

SinoSat 1C was the brand name of

Apstar 2R Apstar 2R, also known as Telstar 10 and SinoSat 1C located at 76.5°E, is a communications satellite equipped with 27 C band and 24 Ku band transponders (36 MHz equivalents). The C band payload provides coverage of Asia, Australia, parts of ...

/Telstar 10 in China.

SinoSat 1D

SinoSat 1C was the brand name of

Telstar 18 Telstar 18 is a communication satellite in the Telstar series of the Canadian satellite communications company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of ...

in China.

SinoSat 2

Sinosat-2 was 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 ...

bus. It was launched at 16:20 GMT on 28 October 2006, also using a Long March 3B. After launch, its

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s and communications antenna failed to deploy, making the satellite unusable.

SinoSat 3

Sinosat-3 is a

DFH-3 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 Sputn ...

satellite, which was launched at 16:08 GMT on 31 May 2007. A

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 ...

rocket was used to place it into

geosynchronous transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step f ...

, making the 100th flight of a

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...

rocket. It operates in geostationary orbit at 125° East. It was redesignated ChinaSat 5C.

SinoSat 5

Launched in 2011. Renamed to ChinaSat 10

SinoSat 6

Launched in 2010 by a

rocket. Renamed to ChinaSat 6A.

Shareholders

According to the company website, Sino Satellite Communications was owned by several state-owned companies, namely

(CASC),

CITIC Group CITIC Group Corporation Ltd., formerly the China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC), is a state-owned investment company of the People's Republic of China, established by Rong Yiren in 1979 with the approval of Deng Xiaoping ...

and China Financial Computerization Corporation (). However, , CASC owned 99.26% stake directly and indirectly.

References

External links

* {{Chinese satellites Communications satellite operators Aerospace companies of China China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Communications satellites of China CITIC Group