Pakistan's First Communications Satellite PAKSAT-1R Launched | TV ...

TV Explore on August 13, 2011

China on Friday launched a communications satellite PAKSAT-1R for its close ally Pakistan.

It was launched in the early hours on Friday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China?s Sichuan Province.

The satellite was carried by a Long March-3B carrier rocket, Chinese official agency Xinhua reported.

PAKSAT-1R will provide a range of services including broadband internet, telecom and broadcasting, covering some regions of Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, and the eastern Africa, besides a host of defence applications.

The satellite will replace Paksat-1. The life span of the satellite was stated to be 15 years.

The Paksat-1R satellite is designed and manufactured by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), Pakistan?s official APP news agency reported.

The satellite carries communication payload to facilitate the introduction of a range of new services, including broadband internet, digital television broadcasting, remote and rural telephony, emergency communications, tele-education and tele-medicine.

The satellite has 30 transponders onboard, including 12 C band and 18 Ku band transponders. To meet the coverage requirements, Paksat-1R has advance communication antennas, covering South Asian sub-continent, the Middle East, east Africa and part of Western European areas and cities.

China and Pakistan share a long history of space technology cooperation. Pakistan?s first low-orbit satellite, BADR-A, was launched by China in 1990 with Long March 2E rocket, it said.

Source: http://www.tvexplore.com/2011/08/pakistans-first-communications-satellite-paksat-1r-launched/

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