Lockheed said the Sky Perfect JSAT’s JCSAT-13 and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group’s (VNPT) Vinasat-2 arrived safely at the Arianespace launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana and are in final pre-launch preparations. Both satellites are based on Lockheed Martin’s A2100 geosynchronous satellite series.

   The JCSAT-13 satellite, which will be located at the 124 degrees East orbital slot, was designed with an all Ku-band payload and 44 high-power communication channels to provide uplink and downlink coverage over Japan, Indonesia, Middle and Near East, Southwest Asia and Oceania.

   Sky Perfect JSAT accelerated its JCSAT-13 satellite project by a little more than a year. The satellite was originally scheduled for launch on an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket in 2013, but Sky Perfect JSAT announced in June 2011 that the company hoped to launch the spacecraft in the fourth quarter of that year. Those plans were recently pushed back to April.

   Sky Perfect JSAT Senior Executive Vice President Osamu Inoue said that Arianespace made an earlier launch spot available to the company after it saw the need to meet faster-than-expected growth in certain market segments.

   “[The program acceleration] allows us to quickly respond to a variety of customer requirements such as DTH services, high-speed broadband services and enterprise VSAT networks, in which time-to-market is a crucial factor for success. We view JCSAT-13 as an important platform for our future growth. Leveraging on its Southeast Asia beam and the two steerable beams, this satellite will significantly expand our international Ku-band businesses to new areas,” Inoue said.

   The multimillion-dollar JCSAT-13 spacecraft will replace the operator’s JCSAT-4A satellite to continue providing service to Japan’s DTH platform.

   Sky Perfect JSAT CEO Masanori Akiyama previously told Satellite News that robust transponder demand in the Asia-Pacific region has motivated the company to focus on JCSAT-13’s future role in the expansion its regional presence. “We expect to find new opportunities in the fields of DTH, IP solutions and teleport business in the Asian region that will utilize our existing and new satellites,” Akiyama said.

   JCSAT-13 is based on Lockheed’s A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series and represents the seventh satellite order Sky Perfect JSAT has awarded to Lockheed Martin.

   Vinasat-2 aims to deliver fixed satellite services to Vietnam and neighboring countries from the 131.8 degrees East orbital slot. The satellite features 24 Ku-band channels providing uplink and downlink coverage. Lockheed Martin delivered Vietnam’s first national satellite Vinasat-1 in 2008 for $300 million dollars, with launch services contracted to Arianespace. “From the shared success of the Vinasat-1 project, I do believe that Lockheed Martin will be able to again meet the schedule requirement and jointly cooperate with VNPT for the successful implementation of the Vinasat-2 Project,” VNPT Board Chairman Pham Long Tran said in a statement following its second contract award with Lockheed.

   “Sky Perfect JSAT and VNPT are long-time valued customers of Lockheed Martin. We will now shift our focus to preparations for this historic launch and achieving mission success for our customers,” Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems President Joe Rickers said in a statement.

   Lockheed Martin’s first commercial geostationary satellite, Satcom 1, was launched in December 1975. Since then, Lockheed Martin’s combined stock of commercial geostationary satellites has provided nearly 1,000 years of operational service.