AsiaSat 7
AsiaSat 7 is a Hong Kong communications satellite, which is operated by the Hong Kong–based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company (AsiaSat). It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 105° East of the Greenwich Meridian, where it serves as a back-up for the AsiaSat 5 satellite and replaced AsiaSat 3S.[2] It is used to provide fixed satellite services, including broadcasting, telephone and broadband very small aperture terminal (VSAT) communications, to Asia and the Pacific Ocean region.[3] Satellite descriptionSpace Systems/Loral and AsiaSat announced in May 2009, that it has been chosen to provide a new communications satellite, named AsiaSat 5C. In early 2010, the satellite was renamed AsiaSat 7. At launch, AsiaSat 7 had a mass of 3,813 kg (8,406 lb),[4] and was expected to operate for fifteen years. It carries 26 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders.[2] LaunchAsiaSat 7 was built by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus.[3] It is being launched by International Launch Services (ILS), using a Proton-M launch vehicle with a Briz-M upper stage. The launch was conducted from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 19:10:34 UTC on 25 November 2011. The Briz-M separated from the Proton-M nine minutes and forty-one seconds into the flight, and AsiaSat 7 separated from the Briz-M into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) nine hours and thirteen minutes after liftoff.[4] It then raises itself into its final geostationary orbit. See alsoReferences
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