The new satellite, to be designated AsiaSat 3S, is an exact replica of AsiaSat 3. The AsiaSat 3 satellite, launched on Dec. 25, 1997 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, did not reach orbit when the upper stage of the Proton rocket failed. AsiaSat 3S is scheduled for launch onboard a Proton rocket in the first quarter of 1999. The satellite will be designed to provide a minimum of 15 years of service.

The new HS 601HP satellite will feature 9,900 watts of power and will increase AsiaSat's capacity to distribute television and telecommunications services to Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The satellite will carry 28 active C-band transponders, using 55-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and 16 active Ku-band transponders using 138-watt TWTAs.

Just as in AsiaSat 3, these transponders will operate through two 107-inch diameter-shaped surface antennas. One antenna, mounted on the east side of the satellite and operating C-band, will provide broad-band coverage for Asia and Australasia. The west-side antenna will operate in Ku-band and provide focused area coverage for East Asia.

A 50-inch diameter, dual-gridded-shaped surface antenna, operating in Ku-band, will provide focused area coverage for South Asia. In addition, a 40-inch-diameter Ku-band steerable spot-beam antenna will allow AsiaSat 3S to direct coverage to any area on the Earth's surface that is visible from the spacecraft's orbital location.

The new AsiaSat satellite will be located at the geostationary orbit of 105.5 degrees East longitude and will be controlled from an integrated satellite control facility in Hong Kong, which was also built by Hughes.

Hughes Space and Communications International is the contracting organization for Hughes Space and Communications Co., the world's largest manufacturer of geostationary commercial communications satellites and a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and space exploration to the U.S. government.

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