Asia Broadcast Satellite Announces ABS-2
Asia Broadcast Satellite announced today that it has selected Space Systems/Loral to manufacture the ABS-2 spacecraft which is scheduled for launch in 2012 with Arianespace. It will be launched by an Ariane 5 ECA from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
ABS-2 will be the most powerful commercial satellite ever launched in the Asia Pacific region with nearly 14 KW of payload power and up to a total of 78 active C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band transponders across 8 different beams. The ABS-2 spacecraft separated mass will be in excess of 6,000 Kg at launch and is designed for 15 years of operational life.
ABS-2 will be co-located with ABS-1 at 75 degrees East Longitude. The ABS-1 satellite is one of the most successful satellites in Asia Pacific in terms of fill rate with more than 14 years of fuel life remaining. ABS-2 will expand the success of ABS-1 by adding up to 78 transponders to the already existing 44 transponders for a total of 122 active transponders at the 75°E orbital location.
ABS-2 was specifically designed for a wide range of services including DTH, Cable TV distribution, VSAT services, Data networks and Telecommunications services. ABS-2 will provide expansion capacity to existing ABS-1 customers, and will also act as in-orbit spare and provide backup for the ABS-1 transponders.
Tom Choi, CEO of Asia Broadcast Satellite said: “We are very excited to partner with Space Systems/Loral and Arianespace to build and launch our ABS-2 spacecraft. We chose both of these companies for this important project because of their industry leadership, quality and reliability of their products and services.”
About Asia Broadcast Satellite
Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) is one of Asia’s most valued and premium satellite operators. Located at 75°E, ABS-1 connects 4/5th of the world’s population covering all of Asia, the CIS region, the Middle East, most of Africa and Eastern Europe.
Leveraging its extensive coverage and operating state of the art, redundant teleport facilities in both Hong Kong and Germany, ABS is able to strategically and effectively offer a broad range of End-to-End solutions including CATV distribution, Direct to Home, Cellular Backhaul, VSAT and Internet Backbone services with diverse IP transit through its European and Asian internet gateways. ABS currently host over 100 channels on ABS-1, making it as one of the fastest growing and top satellite distribution platform for CATV distribution in the Indian Ocean Region.
ABS will expand its presence with the launch of its second satellite (ABS-2) in 2011 and will continue to expand its coverage and business worldwide.