Airbus has been selected by MEASAT Global Berhad (MEASAT), the leading Malaysian operator, to build MEASAT-3D, a new multimission telecommunications satellite to replace capacity and augment its core business in Malaysia, Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
Positioned at 91.5°E collocated with MEASAT-3B, also built by Airbus, MEASAT-3D will deliver improved performances to progressively replace MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3A, supporting Asia’s premium Direct-to-Home (DTH) video distribution.
Planned to be launched in 2021, MEASAT-3D will provide C- and Ku-bands capacity for DTH, video distribution and telecommunication services. The new HTS Ka-band mission features multiple user spot beams optimized to deliver high speed broadband communications over Malaysia to bridge the digital divide in the country.
It will also carry an L-band navigation hosted payload for the Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS) for KTSAT.
MEASAT-3D is based on Airbus’ proven and highly reliable Eurostar E3000 satellite platform. Planned for more than 15 years of operation, MEASAT-3D is designed to have an electrical power of 12kW.
Dr. Edmund Kong, MEASAT’s Chief Technology Officer, said, “We are delighted to once again appoint Airbus as the manufacturer of MEASAT’s 8th communication satellite. With MEASAT-3D, MEASAT reaffirms its commitment to provide core infrastructure for the Malaysian ICT and broadcast industry. Collocated with MEASAT-3A and MEASAT-3B at 91.5°E, MEASAT-3D will serve the growth requirements of 4G and 5G mobile networks in Malaysia while continuing to provide redundancy and additional distribution capacity for video in HD, 4K and ultimately 8K in the Asia-Pacific region. Furthermore, MEASAT-3D will aid in bridging the digital divide in Malaysia by enabling 100% coverage for high speed consumer broadband services to all Malaysian households.”
Arnaud de Rosnay, Head of Telecom Satellites at Airbus, said: “MEASAT has selected Airbus again to build their new multimission satellite which will be based on our highly reliable Eurostar E3000 product. There are already 46 E3000 satellites operating successfully in orbit and Airbus is committed to providing innovative and “best-in-class” satellite solutions to enable MEASAT to be the operator of choice in the region. The mission also builds on Airbus’ unique heritage in the field of SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System) navigation payloads. It is a great honor to have been trusted by both MEASAT and KTSAT to combine their missions, a true testament to our collective ability to be flexible – a key differentiator in today’s market.”
