THAICOM 8 ( th, ไทยคม 8) is a Thai
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
of the
THAICOM
Thaicom Public Company Limited is a Thai satellite operator and provider of satellite and telecommunication services since 1991. The company operates a fleet of currently four satellites covering Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Thaicom is a subsidiar ...
series, operated by
Thaicom Public Limited Company, a subsidiary of
INTOUCH
In Touch or InTouch may refer to:
*Intouch Holdings, a Thai holding company
* ''In Touch'' (radio series), a programme on BBC Radio 4
*In Touch Ministries, a Christian Evangelical organization
*''In Touch Weekly'', a celebrity and lifestyle magazin ...
, and is considered to be the 8th
THAICOM
Thaicom Public Company Limited is a Thai satellite operator and provider of satellite and telecommunication services since 1991. The company operates a fleet of currently four satellites covering Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Thaicom is a subsidiar ...
satellite headquartered in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.
Overview
Manufactured by
Orbital ATK
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) was a sector (business segment) of Northrop Grumman from 2018 through 2019. It was formed from Orbital ATK Inc. a company which resulted from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alli ...
, the THAICOM 8
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...
will serve Thailand, India, and Africa from the
78.5° East geostationary location. It is equipped with 24 active
Ku-band
The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...
transponder
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
s for sending
high-definition television
High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
signals through the satellite to residential dwellings.
Launch
THAICOM 8 was approved for launch into orbit on 18 March 2014. It was launched at the
Cape Canaveral SLC-40
Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), previously Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) is a launch pad for rockets located at the north end of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The launch pad was used by the United States Air Force for 55 Titan III ...
in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
on 27 May 2016, by
SpaceX. The first stage of the
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and pay ...
used to launch THAICOM 8 successfully landed on
ASDS - Of Course I Still Love You. It was the fourth successful landing of a
Falcon 9 Full Thrust
Falcon 9 Full Thrust (also known as Falcon 9 v1.2, with variants Block 1 to Block 5) is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Designed in 2014–2015, Falcon 9 Full Thrust began launch operations ...
.
Reuse of the Falcon 9 First Stage
The
B1023 first stage was later converted into a Falcon Heavy side booster, which performed a static fire test in calendar-week 20 of 2017. This first stage then continued to land again at the
Landing Zone 1
Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovering components of SpaceX's VTVL reusable launch vehicles. LZ-1 and LZ-2 were built on land le ...
at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during the
Falcon Heavy maiden test flight.
See also
*
Thaicom 4
THAICOM 4, also known as IPSTAR 1, is a high throughput satellite built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) for Thaicom Public Company Limited. It was launched on August 11, 2005, from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana on board t ...
*
Thaicom 5
Thaicom 5 was a geostationary communications satellite operated by Thaicom. It was used to provide communications services to Asia, Africa, Middle East, Americas, Europe and Australia.
Overview
Thaicom 5 was constructed by Alcatel Alenia Space ...
*
Thaicom 6
THAICOM 6 ( th, ไทยคม 6) is a Thai satellite of the Thaicom series, operated by Thaicom Public Company Limited, a subsidiary of INTOUCH headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. THAICOM 6 is colocated with Thaicom 5 at 78.5 degrees East ...
*
Thaicom 7
*
List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches
Since June 2010, rockets from the Falcon 9 family have been launched times, with full mission successes, one partial failure and one total loss of the spacecraft. In addition, one rocket and its payload were destroyed on the launch pad durin ...
References
External links
THAICOM 8 InformationTHAICOM 8 mission overview at SpaceXSpaceX Launch Webcast
{{Orbital launches in 2016
Communications satellites in geostationary orbit
Thaicom satellites
SpaceX commercial payloads
Spacecraft launched in 2016
2016 in Thailand
Satellites using the GEOStar bus