MEASAT-3a satellite is located at 91,5° East for MEASAT and Kompas Gramedia Group, an Indonesian conglomerate focused on mass media, hospitality, manufacturing and event organizing. The satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital ATK – Northrop Grumman) and is based on the STAR-2 spacecraft platform.

Orbital ATK (Northrop Grumman) was contracted to built the satellite and shipped the satellite to its Baikonur, Kazakhstan launch site in July 2008. The satellite was mated to the Block DM upper stage of the Zenit-3SLB rocket when it was struck by the operator cab of the overhead crane. The hazardous propellants were successfully offloaded and the spacecraft was decontaminated and returned to the United States for repair work and additional testing, with a projected launch date of Spring/Summer 2009.

MEASAT-3a was successfully launched on a Zenit-3SLB carrier rocket operated by Land Launch, a Joint Venture company with launch operator Sea Launch. The rocket flew from Site 45/1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 21 June 2009.