JCSAT-1B, known as JCSAT-5 before launch, is 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

SKY Perfect JSAT Group The SKY Perfect JSAT Group is a Japanese corporate group that claims to be Asia's largest satellite communication and multi-channel pay TV company. It owns the SKY PerfecTV! satellite broadcasting service and the SKY Perfect Well Think content ...

(JSAT) which was designed and manufactured by

Hughes Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria ...

(now

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

) on the

HS-601 The Boeing 601 (sometimes referred to as the BSS-601, and previously as the HS-601) is a communications satellite bus designed in 1985 and introduced in 1987 by Hughes Space and Communications Company. The series was extremely popular in the 199 ...

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- ...

. It has a pure

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 ...

payload and was used to replace JCSAT-1 at the 150° East

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...

. It covers Japan,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

, most of China,

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 ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, Laos, part of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, part of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

Satellite description

The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by Boeing Satellite Development Center on the HS-601 satellite bus. It had a launch mass of and a 12-year design life. Its

solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...

span when fully deployed and generated approximately 5 kW of power, with its antennas in fully extended configuration it is wide. It would provide communications services throughout Japan,

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

, Australia and

. Its payload is composed of sixteen 36 MHz plus another sixteen 27 MHz Ku-band

transponders 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 tran ...

, for a total bandwidth of 1008 MHz. Its twelve of the 36 MHz transponders have 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 95 watts, the other four 36 MHz and the 27 MHz ones have 60 watts. It can configure four 36 MHz transponders into two 76 MHz with an effective 95 watts. The Ku-band

footprint Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. T ...

covers Japan, Korea, most of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, part of Indonesia, part of Malaysia and Hawaii.

History

In June 1996, JSAT (since then merged into

) ordered JCSAT-5 from

Hughes Space and Communications Company Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria ...

(now

Boeing Satellite Development Center The Boeing Satellite Development Center is a major business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It brought together Boeing satellite operations with that of GM Hughes Electronics' Space and Communications division in El Segundo, Calif ...

), to replace JCSAT-1 at the 150° East slot. The

based satellite would provide coverage to Japan, East Asia, Australia and Hawaii. An

Ariane 44P The Ariane 4 was a European expendable space launch system, developed by the '' Centre national d'études spatiales'' (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by A ...

successfully launched JCSAT-5 on 2 December 1997 at 22:52:32 UTC from

Centre Spatial Guyanais 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 approximatel ...

ELA-2 ELA-2, short for Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 2 ( French for Ariane Launch Area 2), was a launch pad at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana. It was used by Arianespace for two Ariane 3 launches (V17 in 1986, V25 in 1988), the second Arian ...

launch pad. Once successfully deployed, it was renamed as JCSAT-1B. It was driven to the 150° East position where it replaced JCSAT-1. The satellite experienced an anomaly on 17 January 2007 on one of its thrusters. But after the operator designed a control scheme to handle the satellite without the failed thruster, it was put back into service.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1997 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the BSS-601 bus Spacecraft launched in 1997 Communications satellites of Japan Satellites of Japan