Sri Lanka’s first telecommunications Satellite SupremeSAT – I was launched successfully on November 27, 2012 from China’s Long March 3B/E Launch Vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. In this article, we talk about 10 important things that you should know about Sri Lanka’s first Satellite.
1. According to the chairman of SupremeSAT Mr. M. Manivan, that this is a $320 million project which is a 100 % private venture and the funding and every effort made was totally from the private sector. He said that the company can break even in seven years and they can utilize the satellite for another 15 years.
2. Sri Lanka is the third South Asian nation after India and Pakistan and the 45th in the world to possess space technology and own a communication satellite. This launch marked the 173rd orbital launch by China. It is also the China’s 18th success of 2012.
3. Initially, the flight was planned to occur on 22nd November, but hours before liftoff a leak on the launcher was detected leading to a launch delay to 27th Nov.
4. Confirmation of mission success was given by Thales Alenia, the satellite manufacturer from France. Liftoff of the launch vehicle was as expected and all the phases of flight were reported to be normal.
5. The satellite will operate from 87.5 degrees East Longitude in Geostationary Orbit. Geostationary orbit is a circular orbit 35,786 km above the earth’s equator and following the direction of the earth’s rotation. The satellite has an orbital period of 24 hours, and to ground observers, it appears as motionless standing at a fixed position in the sky.
Geo Stationary Satellite
Image Courtesy of Wikipedia
6. SupremeSat-I is also co-branded as ChinaSat 12 which is the internationally used name. To customers of SupremeSat, it is known as SupremeSat-I.
7. SupremeSat-I was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space of France. Launch contractor is China Great Wall Industry Corporation. Chinese communications provider China Satcom will provide communication facilities cooperated with SupremeSat of Sri Lanka.
8. ChinaSat 12 is designed to serve the demands of communication, satellite broadcasting, data transmission, digital broadband multimedia system and media streaming services in China, East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia and China sea area, the Indian Ocean region. SupremeSat will use the satellite for Direct-To-Home broadcasting.
Location of the orbit (87.5E)
Image Courtesy of Chinasatcom
9. SupremeSat-1 is featuring two solar arrays and onboard batteries, a communications payload, space driving systems and electronics for a total mass of about 5 tons. The Satellite is equipped with 24 C-Band and 23 Ku-Band transponders. A transponder is a device that receives a radio signal and automatically transmits a different signal. Given two bands are frequency ranges in the microwave spectrum that ranges from 1.0 GHz to 30 GHz in frequency. C-band operates between 4 to 8GHz and Ku-Band operates between 12 to 18GHz. In contrast, a domestic microwave oven emits a 2.45 Hz microwave radiation in heating food.
10. SupremeSat-I carrier rocket Long March 3B/E is the biggest launcher of the Long March Family standing 56 meters tall with a main diameter of 3.35 meters and a liftoff mass of 4.6 tons. It has three-stage rocket with four strap-on liquid rocket boosters.
Also do check out the following videos on Satellite SupremeSAT – I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yejeAQoo1g8
It looks like that this is just a service offered by Supremesat from a Chinese satellite! By that sense, is this the real “first Sri Lankan satellite?”
Obviously every country does not have technology that is required to build and send their own satellite, But it could be the beginning as per Supremesat. This is what their web site says about their future plans:
http://www.supremesat.com/our_satellites.php
SupremeSAT-II will be launched in 2013. The satellite which is specifically targeting the South Asian market again will provide increased and enhanced capacity for media and network services.
SupremeSAT-III will be the satellite fully owned by SupremeSAT (Pvt) Ltd. We have selected China Academy of Space Technology to build SupremeSAT-III which will operate in C, Ku & Ka-bands. Subject to the approvals of the TRC and the design / manufacturing process, the satellite will be launched in the last quarter of 2015 and will be positioned at 50° East Longitude. The satellite, which is expected to have a service life of 15 years, will provide commercial broadcasting and communications services across Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
My question is how would Sri Lankan community benefit from this SAT and when? Broadband? TV?
Your post, 10 things that you need to know about Sri Lanka’s first Satellite – TechWire, is really well written and insightful. Glad I found your website, warm regards from Glinda!