China's First All-Electric Propulsion Communication Satellite - Asia-Pacific 6E

TapTechNews June 10 news, TapTechNews learned from the official WeChat public account of China Great Wall Industry Corporation that at 10:32 Beijing time on June 10, 2024, China's first all-electric propulsion communication satellite - Asia-Pacific 6E successfully reached the fixed-point position at the orbital position (test orbit position) of 135.5° east longitude under the tracking and control of Xi'an Satellite Control Center.

The Asia-Pacific 6E communication satellite and the independent propulsion module combination was launched into space by the Long March 2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on January 13, 2023, and successfully entered the transitional orbit with a perigee of 328084 feet (approx. 200 kilometers), a apogee of 1640420 feet (approx. 500 kilometers), and an inclination of 28.5°. Later, under the elaborate organization and tracking control of Xi'an Satellite Control Center, the separable independent propulsion module completed the orbit change of the combination to the intermediate orbit on January 23, 2023. After the Asia-Pacific 6E satellite was separated from the combination, it independently changed orbit to the synchronous orbit through its own two sets of electric propulsion systems of Hall/ion.

The Asia-Pacific 6E communication satellite project is the thirteenth communication satellite whole satellite in-orbit delivery project provided by China Great Wall Industry Corporation, which belongs to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, to domestic and international users. The Asia-Pacific 6E communication satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology using the Dongfanghong III E (DFH-3E) satellite platform, and it is the first launch satellite of this platform. The satellite is configured with 25 Ku user beams and 3 Ka gateway station beams, with a communication capacity of approximately 30 Gbps, and will finally be fixed at the orbital position of 134° east longitude after the in-orbit test. The Asia-Pacific 6E communication satellite is operated by Hong Kong Asia-Pacific Satellite Link Satellite Co., Ltd., focusing on the Southeast Asian market and will provide cost-effective high-throughput broadband communication services for this region.