Mission type Communications COSPAR ID 2009-042A Website AsiaSat Fleet Period 24 hours Launch mass 3,760 kg Launch site Baikonur Cosmodrome | Operator AsiaSat SATCAT № 35696 Mission duration 15 years Launch mass 3,760 kg Launch date 11 August 2009 Bus SSL 1300 | |
 | ||
Similar MEASAT‑3, INSAT‑4A, GSAT‑10, INSAT‑4B, SES‑7 | ||
AsiaSat 5 is a Hong Kong communications satellite, which will be operated by the Hong Kong based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company. It will be positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 100.5° East of the Greenwich Meridian, where it will replace the older AsiaSat 2 spacecraft. It will be used to provide fixed satellite services, including broadcasting, telephone and broadband VSAT communications, to Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
Launch
AsiaSat 5 was built by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300LL satellite bus. It is being launched by International Launch Services, using a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage. The launch was conducted from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 19:47 GMT on 11 August 2009. The Briz-M separated from the Proton-M nine minutes and forty one seconds into the flight, and AsiaSat 5 will separate from the Briz-M into a geosynchronous transfer orbit nine hours and fifteen minutes after liftoff. It will then raise itself into its final geostationary orbit.
The launch was originally scheduled to be conducted by Land Launch, using a Zenit-3SLB carrier rocket. The satellite was subsequently re-awarded to ILS after Land Launch were unable to guarantee that the satellite could be launched by August 2009, in order to be in orbit before AsiaSat 2 ceased operations.
At launch, AsiaSat 5 had a mass of 3,760 kilograms (8,290 lb), and was expected to operate for fifteen years. It carries 26 G/H band and 14 J band transponders (NATO frequency designation system, US IEEE C and Ku bands respectively).