ChinaSat Apstar-6D constructed by CAST

ChinaSat Apstar-6D constructed by CAST

The ChinaSat Apstar-6D was constructed by CAST from China.

The APSTAR-6D satellite is located at 134° East Geostationary orbit with 90 Ku-band user beams for customers and eight Ka-band beams to link to gateway stations. The spacecraft has the highest capacity covering China and provides Ku-band for user beams and Ka-band for gateways, featuring performance enhancement for key air and sea traffic routes and areas and power and bandwidth flexible allocation.

The spacecraft was built by Chinese satellite manufacturer CAST. The satellite, barring anomalies was the first commercial success of China’s enhanced Dongfanghong-4 platform, the DFH-4E, which included upgraded components to lighten the satellite platform and allow more room for communications payloads. Two earlier DFH-4E satellites were lost, the China Satcom’s ChinaSat-18 satellite in August 2019 due to a spacecraft power failure immediately after launch, and Nusantara-2, a satellite built for Indonesian satellite operator PSN that was destroyed in a Long March 3B failure in April.

APSTAR-6D is the first of a global system of three or four satellites for broadband connectivity to aircraft, ships and remote locations.

The 5,500kgs heavy APSTAR-6D satellite was launched on July 9th, 2020 by launch operator CGWIC from China on a Long March CZ/3B rocket. APSTAR-6D has a planned operational lifespan of over 15 years.