AsiaSat 4 [Boeing BSS]
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Ltd. (AsiaSat) ordered its AsiaSat 4 satellite from Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS), Inc., in September 2000. The satellite is a Boeing BSS-601HP or "high power" version of the body-stabilized spacecraft. AsiaSat 4 is designed to provide broadcast, telecommunications and broadband multimedia services to the Asia Pacific region, and direct-to-home broadcast servic-es to Hong Kong, from its orbital position of 122° East longitude.
AsiaSat 4 launched successfully 11 April 2003 on an Atlas-3B-SEC rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The satellite will generate up to 9,600 Watts using two sun-tracking four-panel solar wings covered with triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cells. AsiaSat 4 will operate in C-band and Ku-band. The satellite carries 28 active transponders with six spares in C-band, powered by 55 watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and 20 active transponders with four spares in Ku-band, powered by 140 watt TWTAs.
The C-band payload is designed to offer pan-Asian coverage, similar to AsiaSat 3S, also a 601HP model. The Ku-band payload will offer high power, and spot beams for selected areas in either the Fixed Satellite Service frequency band or in the Broadcast Satellite Service frequency band.
AsiaSat 4 will be replaced in 2016 by the new AsiaSat 9 satellite. AsiaSat-4 was leased in March 2018 to SUPARCO as Paksat-MM 1 (PakSat Multi-Mission Satelite 1) to be operated from 38.2° East.
Nation: | Hong Kong → China |
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Type / Application: | Communication |
Operator: | Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company |
Contractors: | Hughes → Boeing |
Equipment: | 28 C-band, 20 Ku-band transponders |
Configuration: | HS-601HP |
Propulsion: | R-4D-11-300, 4 × XIPS-13 ion engines |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 15 years |
Mass: | 4137 kg |
Orbit: | GEO |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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AsiaSat 4 → Paksat-MM 1 | 2003-014A | 12.04.2003 | CC SLC-36B | Atlas-3B-SEC |