BSAT-2a, was a geostationary

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 Ear ...

operated by B-SAT which was designed and manufactured by

Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

on the STAR-1 platform. It was stationed on the 110° East orbital slot along its companion BSAT-2c from where they provided redundant

high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape * HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...

direct television broadcasting across Japan.

Satellite description

BSAT-2a was designed and manufactured by

on the STAR-1

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus- ...

for B-SAT. It had a launch mass of , a dry mass of , and a 10-year design life. As all four STAR-1 satellites, it had a solid rocket Star 30CBP

apogee kick motor An apogee kick motor (AKM) is a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites to provide the final impulse to change the trajectory from the transfer orbit into its final (most commonly circular) orbit. For a satellite la ...

for

orbit raising In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

, plus of propellant for its liquid propellant station keeping thrusters. It measured when stowed for launch. Its dual wing solar panels can generate 2.6 kW of power at the beginning of its design life, and span when fully deployed. It has a single K_u band payload with four active transponders plus four spares with a

TWTA A traveling-wave tube (TWT, pronounced "twit") or traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA, pronounced "tweeta") is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave range. The TWT belongs t ...

output power of 130

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

History

In March 1999, B-SAT ordered from

two satellites based on the STAR-1 platform: BSAT-2a and BSAT-2b. This was the second order of the bus and the first since Orbital had acquired CTA Space Systems, the original developer. BSAT-2a was launched aboard an Ariane 5G at 22:51 UTC, March 8, 2001, from

Guiana Space Center The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approx ...

ELA-3 ELA-3 (french: Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3, lit=Ariane Launch Complex 3), is a launch pad and associated facilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana. ELA-3 is operated by Arianespace as part of the expendable launch system for ...

. It rode on the lower berth below

Eurobird Eurobird was a series of satellites owned and operated by Eutelsat. The Eurobird satellites provided broadcasting and telecommunication services primarily to the Western and Central European region from orbital positions of 9, 25.5 and 33 degrees ...

. On April 26, BSAT-2a was commissioned into service starting the broadcast of digital signals. B-SAT ended the broadcast of analog television in July 2011. During January 2013, BSAT-2a was sent to a graveyard orbit and decommissioned.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2001 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the GEOStar bus Spacecraft launched in 2001 Communications satellites of Japan Satellites of Japan