The JCSAT-12 communications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin [LMT] for SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (SKY Perfect JSAT) of Japan, was successfully launched Aug. 21 from Kourou, French Guiana.
Lift-off occurred at 6:09 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) aboard an Ariane 5-ECA launch vehicle provided by Arianespace of Evry, France. Initial contact with the satellite was confirmed at 7:17 p.m. EDT from Lockheed Martin’s satellite tracking station in Uralla, Australia.
JCSAT-12 is a high-power hybrid satellite consisting of 30 active Ku-band transponders and 12 active C-band transponders that will provide broadcast and broadband services to Japan, Oceania, the Asia-Pacific region and Hawaii.
JCSAT-12 is designed for a minimum service life of 15 years and will serve as a back up satellite for other SKY Perfect satellites following in-orbit check of all systems. The spacecraft was delivered to the launch site in Kourou 22 1/2 months after the contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin.
JCSAT-12 marks the 38th Lockheed Martin-built A2100 spacecraft and the fifth delivered to SKY Perfect JSAT. Lockheed Martin delivered JCSAT-9 through JCSAT-11 and N-SAT-110.
The company is currently manufacturing JCSAT-110R, which is scheduled to launch in 2011, and JCSAT-13, which is planned for delivery in 2011 with a launch date to be announced at a later time.
“The Lockheed Martin team’s ability to maintain program schedule throughout all phases of design, engineering and test was instrumental in our being able to deliver JCSAT-12 to the launch site in less than 23 months,” said Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems General Manager Marshall Byrd. “We’re extremely pleased that our trusted partner, SKY Perfect JSAT, will be able to fulfill their business plan requirements and efficiently implement additional backup satellite service for their customers.”
The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band, high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum and mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band, and S- band payloads. The A2100’s modular design features a reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost.
The A2100 spacecraft’s design accommodates a large range of communication payloads. This design modularity enables the A2100 spacecraft to be configured for missions other than communication. The A2100 design has been adapted for geostationary earth orbit (GEO)-based earth observing missions and is the baselined platform for Lockheed Martin’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R (GOES-R) program. In addition, the A2100 serves as the platform for critical government communications programs, including the Advanced Extremely High Frequency and Mobile User Objective System satellites. The A2100 also serves as the spacecraft platform for Lockheed Martin’s GPS III program.
A second telecommunications satellite, Optus D3 was also placed into
geostationary transfer orbit. Optus D3 will operate in the Ku-band, delivering direct-to-home TV broadcast, Internet, telephony and data transmission services for Australia and New Zealand.
Arianespace and Europe’s Spaceport are planning seven Ariane launches during 2009, maintaining the heavy-lift vehicle’s flight rate. The ability to sustain high launch rates has already been demonstrated – during the 12-month period from August 2007 to August 2008, there were nine launches (V177 to V185, inclusive).
The Ariane 5’s cryogenic, liquid fuelled main engine was ignited first. Seven seconds later, the solid fuel rocket boosters were also fired, and a fraction of a second after that, the launch vehicle lifted off.
Ariane 5 ECA is the latest version of the Ariane 5 launcher. It is designed to place payloads weighing up to 9.6 tonnes into geostationary transfer orbit. With its increased capacity, Ariane 5 ECA can handle dual launches of very large satellites, European Space Agency said.