AsiaSat 8

AsiaSat 8 then AMOS-7 is a Hong Kong-turned-Israeli geostationary communications satellite which is operated by the Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company (Asiasat).

Satellite description

AsiaSat 8 was built by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus.[1][2] The satellite carries twenty-four Ku-band transponders and one Ka-band payload, and was planned to be initially positioned above the equator,[3] at a longitude of 105.5° East,[4] providing coverage of southern and south-eastern Asia, China and the Middle East.[5]

Launch

SpaceX was contracted to launch AsiaSat 8, using a Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. The launch took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) on 5 August 2014 at 08:00 UTC.[6][7]

Falcon 9 upper stage

The Falcon 9 upper stage used to launch AsiaSat 8 is derelict in a decaying elliptical low Earth orbit that,, had an initial perigee of 195 km and an initial apogee of 35673 km. One month on, in September 2014, the orbit had decayed to an altitude of 185 km at its closest approach to Earth, and by November 2014 had decayed to a 169 km perigee.[8]

AMOS-7

In December 2016, Spacecom made a US$88 million four-year agreement with AsiaSat to lease AsiaSat 8 Ku-band. It is providing service at 4° West.[9]

See also

• List of Falcon 9 launches

External links