Hong Kong – AsiaSat 8, the communications satellite of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), is scheduled for launch at Hong Kong Time 1.25pm (1.25am EDT or Cape Canaveral local time) on August 5 by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, U.S.
AsiaSat 8 is a Space Systems/Loral 1300 series satellite, and has a design life of 15 years. With 24 Ku-band transponders and a Ka-band payload, AsiaSat 8 will co-locate with AsiaSat 7, where AsiaSat has established networks for service since 1990. The additional capacity from AsiaSat 8 will help to meet the growing market demand for quality satellite services in the Asia-Pacific region.
AsiaSat 8’s powerful Ku-band beams cover China, India, the Middle East and South East Asia, with inter-beam switching capability to provide flexibility to address market requirements and for services including DTH television, private networks and broadband services.
Live webcast of the launch at the AsiaSat or SpaceX website will begin approximately 15 minutes before liftoff, at about Hong Kong Time 1.10pm (1.10am EDT or Cape Canaveral local time) on August 5.
