ST-1 is a

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 ...

owned by Singapore Telecom and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Company, Ltd. It was placed launched on 25 August 1998, by an

Ariane 4 The Ariane 4 was a European expendable space launch system, developed by the '' Centre national d'études spatiales'' (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Ari ...

rocket. The two companies jointly operate the spacecraft from control centres located in

Seletar Seletar is an area located in the north-east of Singapore. Its name can also refer to the Seletar Planning Area (as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority), situated in the North-East Region of Singapore. The place name was derived from th ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, respectively. ST-1 carries 16 high-power

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 tran ...

and 14 medium-power C-band transponders. Weighing over 3,000 kg (6,600 lb.) at launch, ST-1 generates more than 6,500 Watts of electrical power. The satellite's broad C-band coverage beam extends from the Middle East to Japan, including all of Southeast Asia. ST-1 also features two K_u-band spot beams: a "K1" beam that stretches from Taiwan to Singapore and from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and a "K2" beam centred over the Indian subcontinent. The ST-1 satellite currently delivers telephony, digital DTH broadcasting, VSAT and other business services throughout the region. Singapore Telecom and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Company are currently operating the replacement satellite ST-2 after ST-1 has reached its mission duration in 2011.

References

Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Spacecraft launched in 1998 First artificial satellites of a country Singapore–Taiwan relations Satellites using the Eurostar bus {{communications-satellite-stub