AsiaSat technicians stand in front of the AsiaSat 9 satellite. Photo: AsiaSat.

The AsiaSat 9 satellite for Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) of Hong Kong arrived at the Baikonur Cosmdrome in Kazakhstan on Aug. 27 in preparation for mission integration and launch aboard an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M launch vehicle in September. AsiaSat 9 will be the third ILS Proton launch in 2017.

Built by Space Systems Loral (SSL), AsiaSat 9 is a high-performance satellite with enhanced power and coverage for Asia and Australia. AsiaSat 9 is planned to replace AsiaSat 4 at 122 degrees east longitude and is equipped with 28 C-band and 32 Ku-band transponders, as well as a Ka-band payload. The satellite will provide additional capacity, enhanced power and coverage for Direct-to-Home (DTH), video distribution, private networks and broadband services across the Asia-Pacific region, AsiaSat stated.

According to AsiaSat, AsiaSat 9 is its most powerful satellite, designed to deliver significantly improved power and higher bandwidth usage to generate higher efficiency for customers’ services. It features a high-powered 110 watts C-band Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA), special filter design to achieve higher throughput up to 23 percent enhancement across wide C-band coverage, star tracker onboard the spacecraft for higher pointing accuracy, along with Hall effect thrusters to provide higher stability and more efficient satellite operation.