Next week’s launch of Malaysia’s Measat-3b satellite has been put on ice while additional checks are made to its Australian co-passenger Optus-10.
Both birds were set to be blasted by Arianespace from French Guiana on 6 June and the reason for the…
Next week’s launch of Malaysia’s Measat-3b satellite has been put on ice while additional checks are made to its Australian co-passenger Optus-10.
Both birds were set to be blasted by Arianespace from French Guiana on 6 June and the reason for the last minute verifications was not disclosed.
Measat CEO Paul Brown-Kenyon said the operator is “clearly disappointed with the delay” and that it is looking to reschedule.
“We will provide an update when we receive further information on the revised launch date,” he said.
Optus-10 was built by US-based Space Systems/Loral, which was unable to comment before the press deadline.
Co-passenger troubles have caused scheduling headaches for Arianespace before. Delays in getting Hispasat’s Amazonas-4A ready caused the launch it shared with Astra-5B of SES to be put off for months.
Astra-5B was originally set to fly with Optus-10, but the latter was pulled from the launch manifest last year as the group, owned by Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), considered a sale.
After Amazonas-4A was successfully launched in March 2014, it suffered a power subsystem anomaly that looks likely to result in a partial insurance claim.
Measat-3b is waiting to be placed at 91.5E, where it will join Measat-3 and Measat-3a to more than double the operator’s Ku-band capacity, providing DTH and VSAT services across Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Australia.
Optus-10 will provide Ku-band capacity across Australia and New Zealand. The group is currently providing interim services for Australia’s National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co), until the public–private partnership is able to launch its own satellites.
*29 May 2014 update* Delay due to propulsion subsystem anomaly
In an email to SatelliteFinance, SSL president John Celli said the delay was a result of an anomaly that appeared during propulsion subsystem tests.
“While the probability of a failure in orbit would have been small, our top priority for quality and reliability required additional testing that could only be performed in our facility,” he said on 29 May.
“The satellite is currently being prepared for shipment back to Palo Alto.”
