JCSAT-110, also known as N-SAT 110, JCSAT-7, Superbird-5 and Superbird-D, is a Japanese geostationary

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

which was operated by JSAT Corporation and Space Communications Corporation until both companies merged into SKY Perfect JSAT Group in 2008. It is positioned 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 orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

at a

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

of 110° East, from where it is used to provide communications services to Japan.

Satellite description

The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

on the A2100-AX

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 less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

. It had a launch mass of with a dry mass of and a 13-year design life. As most satellites based on the A2100-AX platform, it uses a LEROS-1C liquid apogee engine (LAE) for

orbit raising In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

. When stowed for launch, the satellite was high. Its dual wing

solar panels A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

gave a power generation capability of 8.3 kW at the end of its design life, with a span of when deployed. With antennas deployed, its width was . Its payload is composed of twenty-four 36 MHz

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 ), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band ...

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 trans ...

with a

TWTA A traveling-wave tube (TWT, pronounced "twit") or traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA, pronounced "tweeta") is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave range. It was invented ...

output power of 120

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s per channel. With its total bandwidth of 864 GHz, it is used primarily for multi-channel pay per view business.

History

In September 1997, both JCSAT and Space Communications Corporation (SCC) had requested the 110° East position. The Japanese government made both companies share the 110° East position, and thus they both made a joint order on 20 November 1998 for N-SAT 110 from

. JCSAT used the JCSAT-7 designation for this satellite, while SCC used Superbird-5. On 6 October 2000 at 23:00

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

, an Ariane-42L H10-3 successfully launched N-SAT 110 to a geostationary transfer orbit from

Centre Spatial Guyanais The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

ELA-2 The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximately north of the equator at a latitude o ...

. One hour later, at 00:04 UTC, on 7 October 2000, the first signals from the satellite were successfully received from the Australia ground station. On 14 October 2000, at around 03:00 UTC, N-SAT 110 reached the

. Once it was put into orbit, it was renamed as JCSAT-110 by JCSAT and Superbird-D by SCC. On 1 October 2008, JSAT Corporation and Space Communications Corporation merged into SKY Perfect JSAT Group, and the satellite was known simply as JCSAT-110.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2000 Communications satellites of Japan Spacecraft launched in 2000 Satellites using the A2100 bus 2000 in Japan

Satellite description

History

See also

References