In the Asiasat 2017 annual results report they say "A least for the full payload of Asiasat 4 was secured following successful migration of customers from AsiaSat 4 to AsiaSat 9,"Asiasat 4 did move into 38.0E on Feb 27 which matches the report.Perhaps Asiasat worked with CGWIC to sell the lease (misreported as a sale) to Paksat
On March 22, 2018, Suparco (owner of the Paksat satellites) and CGWIC signed a deal to purchase the "PAKSAT-MM1" geostationary satellite.Articles are there :- https://tribune.com.pk/story/1666876/1-pakistan-acquires-another-communication-satellite/- https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/03/22/pakistan-acquires-communication-satellite/At first I thought it was a future satellite, but the 2 articles I found say it already arrived at its 38.2° East slot on February 27 or 28, 2018. It's quite strange...Then I thought at Asiasat 4 that was at 38.0° East on March 21, 2018, but I'm not sure Asiasat belongs to CGWIC.In that case, which CGWIC satellite can it be ?Thanks !
The reports were mistaken. This was a contract signing ceremony for a 50 - 50 joint development of the Pakistan Multi-Mission Satellite. No satellite has yet been developed or launched. Check the video in the link! http://radio.gov.pk/23-03-2018/pakistan-china-sign-contract-of-pakistan-multi-mission-satellite-paksat-mm1In other news PRSS-1 & PakTes-1A will now not be dual launched till June - September time.
Quote from: Spacepak on 03/26/2018 01:59 amThe reports were mistaken. This was a contract signing ceremony for a 50 - 50 joint development of the Pakistan Multi-Mission Satellite. No satellite has yet been developed or launched. Check the video in the link! http://radio.gov.pk/23-03-2018/pakistan-china-sign-contract-of-pakistan-multi-mission-satellite-paksat-mm1In other news PRSS-1 & PakTes-1A will now not be dual launched till June - September time. Can you provide more details about the launch schedule for PRSS-1 and details about the PakTes-1A? Thank you!
A tweet from CGWIC today presents the contract signed as "for a gap filler satellite for the future PakSat Multi-Mission Satellite".So Asiasat 4 seems not to be the real Paksat MM-1 but a gap filler.
This communication satellite PakSat- MMI has arrived at Pakistan’s geostationary orbital location of 38.2 East on Feb 27
Thanks for the scrutiny. What you suggest makes the most sense to me (for now)!Today, a transponder test was reported at 38°E (3921 H) that can only originate from AsiaSat 4, because PakSat-1R does not have such transponder frequency.So they actually intend to use AsiaSat 4 (PakSat-MM1), not just passively reserve the slot.