[July 31, 1998] Chinastar-1 in Operation The Chinastar-1 (Zhongwei-1) satellite launched
on May 30 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in
southwest China's Sichuan province was put into operation
today after going through several changes of orbit and
positioning and in-orbit tests. The Chinasatr-1, built by
the Lockheed Martin Company of the United States, is
a state-of-the-art, powerful and large-capacity
telecommunications satellite. An official with the China
Orient Telecom Satellite Company, which is responsible
for maintaining the Chinastar-1, said the in-orbit tests
demonstrate that the satellite is in complete compliance
with contracted performance requirements, noting that it
will provide high-performance space resources for
domestic and overseas subscribers. (Xinhua)
[July 27, 1998] China Plans to Develop a Large
GEO Satellite Bus Chinese Areospace Corporation(CASC) will develop
a new large GEO satellite bus which will be used for
variaty of GEO satellites of China in the next century.
CASC will select a foreign company as the partner.
According to the current plan, all satellites based on
this new bus will be designed, assembled and tested in
China, and launched by Chinese Long March. Up to now,
four European comapanies has submitted the proposal. The
final decision will be made in near future.
[July 24, 1998] Long March Iridium Launch Slipped The recent failure of two more orbiting
satellites in the Iridium telecommunications
constellation has forced Motorola to adjust upcoming
launches of replacements. The first replacement launch
was to have occurred this week, but officials delayed
that launch of two satellites aboard a Chinese Long March
2C/SD rocket. It is now expected sometime in the later
part of August, officials say. The Long March is now to
carry its cargo toward plane No. 2, which currently has
two open positions from failed satellites. The plane No.
6, originally the target for the Long March will be
filled by a Delta 2 because this plane now has three
inactive satellites. (Florida Today)
[July 23, 1998] Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Unsafe? A newly declassified White House documents
pointed that China's Xichang launch center may be unsafe
for it is near where people live. In response to it, Geng
Kun, a spokeswoman for the China Great Wall Industry
Corporation, said: "With coordination from the
government, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center has
appropriately evacuated the residents and technical
personnel near the launching area and made proper
arrangements for them." However, a Chinese source
familiar with Xichang said most of local peasants were of
the Yi nationality. Due to the Chinese policy toward the
minority nationalities, it is difficult for the
authorities concerned to evict them by tough means.
Before the launch of Sinosat-1 on July 18, the residents
temporarily left the launching area by bus, which is
organized the local government.
[July 18, 1998] SinoSat-1 Launched into Space
Today China successfully launched the Sinosat-1
telecommunications satellite manufactured mainly by
Aerospatiale of France at 17:20 (Beijing time) today from
the Xichang Satellite Launch center in southwest China's
Sichuan province. The satellite was carried into orbit by
the Long March 3B carrier rocket, marking the first time
China has launched a telecommunications satellite
produced in a European country with the Long March rocket
family. This was the 53rd launch of a Chinese-made Long
March rocket. The satellite and the rocket separated
1,495 seconds after launching. Twenty minutes later,
initial data from the Xi'an Satellite Monitoring and
Control Center indicated that the Sinosat-1 had entered
its predetermined geosynchronous orbit at a perigee
of 600 km, apogee of 35,946 km, and bank angle of 19
degrees. Tthe Aaerospatiale will be responsible for
monitoring and controlling the satellite, which will be
positioned at 110.5 East longitude above the equator. The
satellite carries 24 C-band transponders and 14 Ku-band
transponders which cover the entire Asia-Pacific region
including China and its neighboring countries. With a
designed life span of 15 years, the satellite will
provide multiple services to the country's financial
electronization program and air transportation control
system, the Shanghai information port project, and so
on.(Xinhua)
[July 18, 1998] DFH-3 in Good Condition The DFH-3 communication satellte, launched in
last May, has worked normally for near 14 month. DFH-3 is
the most advanced communication satellite build in China.
It was designed and manufactured by CAST, China Academy
of Spcace Technology. CAST said the satellite had some
small problems in the early stage but all were resolved.
DFH-3 has 24 C-band transponders and 8 years of expected
working life. (CAST)
[July 18, 1998] CZ-3B Mockup Arrived Zhuhai
Airshow The Fairing of a Long March 3B rocket mockup
reached Zhuhai on June 26. The rest of the rocket will be
transported to Zhuhai by the end of July. The 55m long,
35 tonnes CZ-3B mockup will stand at outdoor of '98
Zhuhai Airshow on November, along with a CZ-2E which was
exhibited in 1996.
[July 17, 1998] Mainland Suggest Space
Cooperation with Taiwan China says that mainland and Taiwan can begin
the space cooperation in many fields, such as exchange of
earth observation data, jointly build the satellite and
even launch satellites for Taiwan. The speech was made by
the science and technology delegation from mainland
during a historic visit to Taiwan in recent days. The
delegation is headed by the Science and Technology
Minister Zhu Lilan who is the first cabinet minister from
mainland to set foot in Taiwan.
[July 17, 1998] Hacking Group Claimed to Have
Disabled Chinese Satellite The reclusive leader of a Chinese hacking group
that last year claimed to have temporarily disabled a
Chinese satellite -- an incident never confirmed by the
Chinese government -- is now forming a new global hacking
organization to protest Western investment in the
country. With members operating inside and outside of
China, the Hong Kong Blondes hacking group claim to have
found significant security holes within Chinese
government computer networks, particularly systems
related to satellite communications. Wong, a dissident
astrophysicist living in Toronto, said that the new group
-- known as the Yellow Pages -- plans to target companies
doing business with China, and possibly attack their
computer networks. (HotWired)
[July 17, 1998] Satellite Export Controversy
Heats up Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said
on Tuesday that Senate investigators had concluded that
China improved its military missile program when it
received sensitive American space technology after the
Clinton administration loosened export controls.
White House spokesman Michael McCurry dismissed Mr.
Lott's charges as "flabbergasting" and
"not a serious statement by a serious person."
China denied Lott's allegations the next day. American
satellite firms also claims they did not violate national
security. The House passed the ban in May; the Senate is
expected to consider it this summer -- a move that
"could have a devastating effect on the U.S.
industry," says Clayton Mowry, director of the
Satellite Industry Association. After accusations were
first levied in April, Hughes' and Loral's stock prices
dipped as much as 20% and still have not fully recovered.
[July 8, 1998] AsiaSat 4 Launch Delayed Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. may
delay launching of its new satellite, AsiaSat 4,
amid slowing Asian economies, a company official said
Tuesday. "So far, we have been okay. However, we
will hesitate to launch AsiaSat 4 in the year 2000 if
there is no sign of a recovery in the satellite market
then," William Wade, deputy chief executive officer
of Hong Kong-based AsiaSat, told AFP-affiliated financial
news service AFX-Asia in an interview. AsiaSat has
delayed the AsiaSat 4 launch towards the end of 2000 from
earlier the same year, he said, adding: "If things
are not going right, we will hold (the launch)."
(AFP)
[July 5, 1998] AsiaSat 3 Licenses Revokes The Hong Kong government said Friday that it has
revoked licenses granted to Asia Satellite
Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (SAT) for a satellite which
failed to reach its intended orbit. The government said
in a statement that AsiaSat 3 wasn't successfully
launched last December, and isn't carrying out the
activities for which AsiaSat was granted a license under
the territory's Outer Space Ordinance. The license was
revoked on June 12.
