ABS-3, formerly ABS-5, was initially named Agila 2 after the

Philippine eagle The Philippine eagle (''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is Endemism, endemic to forests in the Geography of ...

, before being acquired by ABS (formerly known as

Asia Broadcast Satellite ABS is a global satellite operator and has offices in United Arab Emirates, Asia and United States. Operating 5 Communications satellite, communication satellites, the satellite fleet currently covers 93% of the world's population including the ...

). Launched in 1997, the satellite provided

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

services for Mabuhay Satellite Corporation before being sold to ABS in 2009. Built by Space Systems/Loral, the satellite provided coverage in the Asia-Pacific region. Its control station is located at the

Subic Bay Freeport Zone The Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, often shortened as Subic Bay or Subic, is a special economic zone and List of free ports, freeport area covering portions of the city of Olongapo and the town of Subic, Zambales, Subic in Zambales, ...

in the Philippines. The satellite was launched by

Long March 3B The Long March 3B (), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on ...

and positioned at 146°E longitude. While it was the first Filipino-owned satellite to be launched into space, it is not the first Filipino satellite. Another satellite named Mabuhay, previously known as Palapa B-2P, was acquired from Indonesian company Pasifik Satelit Nusantara a year earlier, becoming the first satellite owned by a Filipino entity. In 2011, ABS-5 was renamed ABS-3 and repositioned to the 3°W orbital slot. ABS-3A was launched on 1 March 2015 to replace ABS-3, which was relocated to operate at 15.75 WL and later at 85.3EL. In August 2017, ABS-3 was deorbited from the geostationary arc and retired after nearly 20 years of operation.

Capacity

ABS-3 consisted of 30 C-band transponders at 27 watts and 24 Ku-band transponders at 110 watts, combining to 12 high-power 220-watt transponders. The total DC power at End of Life (EOL) was expected to be 8200 watts. The combination provides a power-to-mass ratio of 5:1, making ABS-3 one of the most efficient satellites in the industry. The satellite is able to transmit 190 channels of high-fidelity digital programming to cable companies and home satellite dishes, as well as handle 50,000 simultaneous two-way telephone conversations.

Design

In the beginning, ABS-3 or Agila-2 was a joint venture between Mabuhay Satellite Corporation and various companies, namely, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), High Rise Realty Development Corporation, Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel), Beijing High Den Enterprises Limited, Walden Group of Companies,

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

, Philippine Satellite Corporation, Cable Entertainment Corporation, Siy Yap Group, and Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation. The satellite's cost was estimated at US$243 million and has a design based on the Space Systems/Loral FS-1300 satellite bus. ABS-3 was deployed to orbit by a Chinese

rocket in

Sichuan province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

on 20 August 1997. The satellite was expected to operate for 15 years.

Reach

ABS-3's Ku-band coverage zone encompasses

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, portions of

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The 24 Ku-band transponders of the satellite may be commanded by ground control to combine into 12 high-powered transponders with 220-watt amplifiers for the purpose of broadcasting Direct-to-Home digital TV services. ABS-3's C-band covers

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, Western Pacific and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The satellite's C-band allows Internet access with downlink capabilities of up to 15 Mbit/s. Moreover, Filipino broadcasters like

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

use the satellite's C-band capacity for signal distribution and satellite news gathering.

References

External links

ABS 3 Channels
{{Orbital launches in 1997 Telecommunications in the Philippines Communications satellites in geostationary orbit First artificial satellites of a country Spacecraft launched in 1997 Satellites of the Philippines Satellites using the SSL 1300 bus