JCSAT-4B, known as JCSAT-13 (formerly known as Lippostar-1) 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 Lockheed Martin on the

A2100 The A2100 is a model of communications satellite spacecraft made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. It is used as the foundation for telecommunications payloads in geosynchronous orbit, as well as GOES-R weather satellites and GPS Block IIIA satelli ...

platform.

Satellite description

The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin on the

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 had a launch mass of and a 15-year design life. As most satellites based on the A2100 platform, it uses a LEROS-1C

LAE Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

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 ...

. Its payload is composed of thirty-two 27 MHz and twelve 36 MHz K_u 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 1.296 GHz, and it is used primarily for multi-channel pay per view business. Besides the main beam, it has two steerable beams that enables it to reconfigure in orbit its services. It's mainly used for broadcasting digital televisions channels It has two fixed beams named ''Japan Beam'' and ''South East Asia Beam''. The former offers coverage from the Middle and Near East through South West Asia, South East Asia and Oceania. With the latter mainly covering Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition to the two fixed beams, it offers two steerable beams to cover zones where demands has surpassed the fixed beam capacity.

History

On April 16, 2009, JSAT made its seventh order for an A2100-based satellite from Lockheed, the JCSAT-13 and Lippostar-1. It would feature 44 K_u band transponders with two steerable antennas for on-orbit reconfiguration. It was to be launched in 2013 for the 124°East slot where it would replace

JCSAT-4A JCSAT-4A, designated JCSAT-6 before launch, is a Japanese geostationary communications satellite which is operated by JSAT Corporation (now SKY Perfect JSAT Group). It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 124° East, from where ...

. The next day, April 17,

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy- ...

announced that they had secured the contract to launch JCSAT-13 on an

Ariane 5 ECA Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads into ...

. On March 23, 2012, JSAT announced that the expected launch date for JCSAT-13 was May 15. Also, that it would replace

at the 124° East slot to offer the ''SKY PerfecTV!'' digital broadcasting service. As scheduled, on May 15 as 22:13 UTC, an Ariane 5 ECA, successfully launched JCSAT-13 and

Vinasat-2 Vinasat-2 (stylized all uppercase) is the second Vietnamese satellite to be placed in orbit. It was launched at 22:13 UTC on May 15, 2012 (5:13am on May 16 in the Vietnam time zone) at the European Spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana in South ...

to a

geostationary transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step f ...

. JCSAT-13 separated from the top berth at 22:39 UTC, and first signals were acquired at 23:20 UTC. After the launch success, JCSAT-13 was renamed JCSAT-4B. On the same day of the launch, JSAT announced an agreement with the

Lippo Group Lippo Group is an Indonesian multinational conglomerate company. The company operates internationally providing property development and management services. It was founded by Mochtar Riady. Lippo has a collective presence across Asia and Nor ...

to use JCSAT-4B to offer a direct-to-home satellite TV broadcast service across Indonesia. After reaching the 124°East, it was commissioned into service on July 10, replacing JCSAT-4A.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2012 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the A2100 bus Spacecraft launched in 2012 Communications satellites of Japan Satellites of Japan