Thaicom 5 was a

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

operated by

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 four satellites covering Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Thaicom is a subsidiary of Into ...

. It was used to provide communications services to

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, Europe and Australia.

Overview

Thaicom 5 was constructed by

Alcatel Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based systems, including ...

, and is based on the

Spacebus 3000 Spacebus is a satellite bus produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in France by Thales Alenia Space. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary communications satellites, and seventy-four have been launched since development started ...

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 less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

, with a configuration identical to the Thaicom 3 satellite which it replaced. It was originally ordered as Thaicom 4, but sold to Agrani as Agrani 2 before completion. It was completed in 1997, and stored until June 2005 when it was cancelled and sold back to Thaicom. It was equipped with 25 G/H band (IEEE C band) and 14 J band (IEEE K_u band)

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, and at launch it had a mass of , with an expected operational lifespan of 12 years. Thaicom 5 began experiencing technical difficulties in December 2019, causing Thaicom to duplicate some channels, including

Korean Central Television Korean Central Television (KCTV; ) is a North Korean television service operated by the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, a state-owned broadcaster in North Korea. It is broadcast terrestrially via the Pyongyang TV Tower in Moranbong-g ...

, to neighboring satellites.

Launch

The satellite was launched on an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket, contracted by

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

, flying from

ELA-3 ELA-3 () is a launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. The complex was first used in June 1996 in support of the now retired Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespac ...

at the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

. The launch occurred at 21:09 UTC on 27 May 2006, and placed Thaicom 5, along with the Mexican Satmex 6 spacecraft, into geosynchronous transfer orbit. At the time, it was the heaviest dual-satellite payload ever launched into geosynchronous transfer orbit, however, this record has since been broken. Following launch, Thaicom 5 raised itself into geostationary orbit using an S400 engine, with insertion occurring on 3 June 2006. It underwent on-orbit testing, and was positioned at a

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 lett ...

of 78.5° East for operational service, where it replaced the failing Thaicom 3 satellite. On 2 October 2006, after Thaicom 5 had become operational, Thaicom 3 was moved to a

graveyard orbit A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an Orbit (physics), orbit that lies away from common operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a supersynchronous orbit well beyond geosynchronous orbit. Some satellit ...

References

External links

International Media Switzerland
Official provider's site {{Orbital launches in 2006 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Thaicom satellites Spacecraft launched in 2006 2006 in Thailand Satellites using the Spacebus bus

Overview

Launch

See also

References

External links