IN THE NEWS

April 18th 2008 Update: An Arianespace Ariane-5 ECA is scheduled to liff off at 22:17 UTC/GMT today from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The Ariane-5 ECA will deliver both Vietnam's Vinasat-1 and Brazil's Star One C2 telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. The Ariane-5 ECA is a latest version of the Ariane-5 launcher. It is designed to handle dual launches of very large satellites and place payloads weighing up to 9.6 tonnes into geostationary transfer orbit. The Launch is completed and successful [VIDEO VIEW]

April 12th 2008 News (VINASAT-1 Installed on Ariane-5 for April 18 Launch) VINASAT-1 is now positioned on Ariane-5's cryogenic core stage during integration activity inside the Final Assembly Building. This Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft is Vietnam's initial telecommunications satellite, and it will ride as the lower passenger in Ariane-5's dual-payload "stack" during the April 18 launch.

March 2008 News (Vietnam's VINASAT-1 satellite is readied for Arianespace's heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission in April): Vinasat is now on the Kourou launch pad in French Guyana and is scheduled to be shot into orbit on 12 April 2008. It will circle the earth at 132 degrees east, a position that Vietnam registered with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 1999. Vinasat will be operated by incumbent telco Vietnam Post and Telecoms (VNPT)’s international telephony arm Vietnam Telecom International (VTI). Vinasat will be able to provide more than 200 digital television channels and tens of thousands of data transmission and telephone channels.

2007 News: The Vietnamese Government decided May 2008 is the deadline for launching the first Vietnam's communication satellite into orbit . It's the medium-sized satellite coded "Vinasat". The Vinasat will span its coverage over Vietnam, other Southeast Asian countries such as Japan, the Korean peninsula, Eastern Oceania and South China Sea. The U.S. based company Lockheed-Martin Commercial Space Systems won a 180 million USD bid in May 2006 (contract signed May 12, 2006 in Hanoi) to build and launch the Vinasat for Vietnam.

Details information of Vinasat-1:

Nation: Vietnam

Type / Application: Communication

Operator: Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) of Vietnam

Contractors: Lockheed-Martin

Equipment: C- and Ku-band transponders

Configuration: A2100A

Propulsion: LEROS-1C

Lifetime: 15 years

Mass 2600 kg

Launch Vehicle: Ariane-5

Orbit: GEO

What is the A2100A Configuration and its Reliability?

  The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band payload configurations, high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum, and mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band and S-band payloads. The A2100's modular design features a reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost.  The company has standardized on this bus. Much of the R&D is directed toward increasing the power available on the satellite and the A2100 bus, which is capable of generating 15 kW in its standard configuration. This involves work on the integration of new, higher efficiency solar cells, onto the innovative solar "pleated shades," the use of high efficiency, radiation cooled TWTAs, the design of more efficient heat pipes and fold out radiators and improved design for thermal dissipation. Company engineers make extensive use of CAD tools and claim that they can deliver a satellite that uses the A2100 bus in 18 months after receipt of the order.  The A2100 series is modular and can be configured in three different sizes:

• Echostar 4:  1998 - two of five panels on one solar array have not unfolded, later fuel system problems - partial loss

• Nimiq 2:        2003 - power loss - reduced performance

• Telkom 1:     1999 - solar array drive problems - no performance loss