AsiaSat 3S, was a

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 ...

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 ...

for

AsiaSat Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, known by its brand name AsiaSat, is a commercial operator of communication spacecraft. AsiaSat, based in Hong Kong, is incorporated in Bermuda. AsiaSat is jointly owned by Chinese state-owned ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

to provide communications and television services all across

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

Background

In March 1998, AsiaSat ordered a replacement satellite, for US$195 million, from

Hughes Space and Communications The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other pro ...

. Designated AsiaSat 3S, the new satellite is a replica of AsiaSat 3.

Launch

AsiaSat 3S was launched for AsiaSat by a

Proton-K The Proton-K, also designated Proton 8K82K after its GRAU index or SL-12 after its model number, 8K82K, was a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 an ...

/ DM-2M

launch vehicle 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 pads, supported by a launch control center and sys ...

on 21 March 1999, at 00:09:30 UTC, destined for an orbital location at 105.5° East. A replacement for Asiasat 3, placed in the wrong orbit by a Proton launch in 1997, Asiasat 3S carried C-band and

Ku-band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...

transponders In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight tra ...

. The Blok DM-2M upper stage placed the satellite in a

Geostationary 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 ...

(GTO). Asiasat's on-board R4D-11-300 apogee engine was then used to raise

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any el ...

to geostationary altitude. It replaced

AsiaSat 1 AsiaSat 1 was a Hong Kong communications satellite, which was owned, and was operated, by the Hong Kong based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company. It was positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 100.5° East. It spent its oper ...

on 8 May 1999.

Mission

It was replaced by

AsiaSat 7 AsiaSat 7 is a Hong Kong communications satellite, which is operated by the Hong Kong based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company (AsiaSat). It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 105° East of the Greenwich Meridian ...

References

{{Orbital launches in 1999 Satellites using the BSS-601 bus Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Spacecraft launched in 1999 AsiaSat satellites Spacecraft launched by Proton rockets

Background

Launch

Mission

See also

References