Chinasat-12 (Zhongxing-12), CZ-3B/E - November 27, 2012 (1013UTC)

[beidou]

A dedicated thread to this launch, currently no much information is available.

[Satori]

Are you sure this is going to be launched by a CZ-3C?

[beidou]

Are you sure this is going to be launched by a CZ-3C?

I think I had a typo and it has been corrected. Thanks Satori!

[input~2]

Since the shortest turnaround time at XSLC LC2 is 21 days and Compass-G2R launch is planned NET October 24, Chinasat-12 launch will take place NET November 14.

[Indika Perera]

Sri Lanka’s First Partly Owned Satellite Set For Launch
 
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=63997

[dedead]

Chinasat-12 (ex Apstar 7B) is planned to be launched on November 22th.

I'll try to make some updates from the XSLC base as soon as possible, with photos. If all flights are on time, I'm expected to be over there next tuesday. (departure sunday october 21th at 5:00 pm, arrival on october 23th 2:00pm... very (too ?) long trip !)

edit : sorry for my english, next time I will post in chinese 

[Satori]

Chinasat-12 (ex Apstar 7B) is planned to be launched on November 22th.

I'll try to make some updates from the XSLC base as soon as possible, with photos. If all flights are on time, I'm expected to be over there next tuesday. (departure sunday october 21th at 5:00 pm, arrival on october 23th 2:00pm... very (too ?) long trip !)

edit : sorry for my english, next time I will post in chinese 

Great! Thanks for the update!

[input~2]

Sri Lanka’s First Partly Owned Satellite Set For Launch

http://www.island.lk/

Thanks Indika and welcome to the forum!

Here is a direct link: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=63997

This article is also reproduced on SupremeSAT Ltd website:
http://www.supremesat.com/news_events.php

SupremeSAT Ltd (http://www.supremesat.com/our_satellite.html) still indicates that:

SupremeSAT-I was a portion of  Chinasat-10 payload

SupremeSAT-II will be a portion of Chinasat-11 payload

SupremeSAT-III will be a fully owned satellite to be launched in December 2015

As Chinasat-12 is now indicated as Sri Lanka first partly owned satellite, I understand that it supersedes the deal on Chinasat-10, and that part of the payload will be known as SupremeSAT-I

BTW, Chinasat-12 launch time is confirmed in the article as "around midnight" LT on November 22, ie around 1600UTC

[dedead]

Hi !

First feedback (but I use google translate, it's a paste from another forum  )

So I left on Sunday evening for a Nice, France with an arrival on Tuesday afternoon (local time) in Xichang. We took a step Monday night in a hotel in Chengdu with a total of 4 planes.
 
XSLC space base is about 60km north of Xichang City at the intersection of two valleys. : https://maps.google.com/maps?q=xichang&hl=fr&ie=UTF8&ll=28.237141,102.034235&spn=0.02174,0.038581&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=39.916234,79.013672&hnear=Xichang,+Pr%C3%A9fecture+autonome+yi+de+Liangshan,+Sichuan,+R%C3%A9publique+populaire+de+Chine&t=h&z=15
 
The hotel is exactly in the middle of the intersection, satellite integration buildings and  launchers building in the valley to the right.
In the valley leading to the north, you can see the two launch pads with the right one that will be used today for the launching of the Chinese satellite Beidou-2 and Chinasat to 12 at the end of November.
 
The work has just begun but we have already done a tour of the facilities side halls integration. We can feel the military atmosphere, it is in fact a military base but it is not as "strict" than I've seen in Baikonur 4 years ago. The decor is really nice, we not realize gmap but on the mountains above the valleys are 2000m high and when we are at 1500m in the base
You can move on foot across the base, from the moment you have famous sesame as the satellite team badge ! The launch must be scheduled for tomorrow at 23:30 local time, I'll try to get close to the launch pad in the middle of the day and take some pictures before launch. It provides us a place to view 2.5/3km launcher in the launch axis but in the opposite direction to the path  We are going to freeze but it will be worth the wait in the cold I think
 
For the moment, no contact with teams launchers. Chinese staff of the hotel (hotel specific teams foreign payloads, so rare) is adorable. The food is good but a French cook has accompanied us since experience has been a radical change in eating habits sometimes makes sick 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

According to dedead's post on another forum (http://www.forum-conquete-spatiale.fr/t14311p15-lancement-cz-3b-chinasat-12-a-xslc-le-22-novembre-en-attente), work on the CZ-3B LV have almost finished (with only the third stage needing some work) by Nov. 2, and yesterday preparations at the pad have begun. Per the nominal pad flow the rocket should be stacked on today.

BTW I wonder if someone knows the launch time in advance: while the source above states that the launch should be around midnight LT (the "standard launch period" for domestic-built GEO bound satellites), all satellites built by Thales Alenia (or whatever it was called) were launched in the evening (APStar 6/7 + Chinasat 6B/9 + Eutelsat W3C, as well as all the old DFH-2(A)s and HS-376s and some of the foreign customer satellites). I wonder which one is correct?

[dedead]

According to dedead's post on another forum (http://www.forum-conquete-spatiale.fr/t14311p15-lancement-cz-3b-chinasat-12-a-xslc-le-22-novembre-en-attente), work on the CZ-3B LV have almost finished (with only the third stage needing some work) by Nov. 2, and yesterday preparations at the pad have begun. Per the nominal pad flow the rocket should be stacked on today.

BTW I wonder if someone knows the launch time in advance: while the source above states that the launch should be around midnight LT (the "standard launch period" for domestic-built GEO bound satellites), all satellites built by Thales Alenia (or whatever it was called) were launched in the evening (APStar 6/7 + Chinasat 6B/9 + Eutelsat W3C, as well as all the old DFH-2(A)s and HS-376s and some of the foreign customer satellites). I wonder which one is correct?

Normally, it will be 6:03 p.m. local time, here at XiChang.

The work is still in progress and in good way. Last week, XSLC invited us to see all parts of the launcher in the integration hall (first, second and third stages, all 4 boosters and the fairing in 2 parts).
I began yesterday some validation on the tower, driving away at the back of an old chinese military truck !
I saw from the road :

Edit by mod: Merci dedead d'attacher les photos plutôt que de les insérer dans le texte!

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Normally, it will be 6:03 p.m. local time, here at XiChang.

The work is still in progress and in good way. Last week, XSLC invited us to see all parts of the launcher in the integration hall (first, second and third stages, all 4 boosters and the fairing in 2 parts).
I began yesterday some validation on the tower, driving away at the back of an old chinese military truck !
I saw from the road :

Thanks for the update (not usually seen in real time for China!)!  That's 10:03 Zulu for our other members...

P.S. By the way, maybe you would like to know that the "standard" gift to each launch processing team visiting XSLC are a pile of vegetables, yogurt milk and......... yes, a full roasted pig! 

(picture source: http://www.9ifly.cn/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=3268&pid=227296 )

[dedead]

I'm not sure for the xx:03
Next update soon for the exact minute !

[Indika Perera]

Joint Owned Satellites: SupremeSAT-I

Demonstrating our robust growth in the regional satellite industry, we will be launching the first ever Sri Lankan owned satellite, SupremeSAT-I into orbit on 22nd November 2012. This will be a joint launch with China Satcom and will enable us to expand into the regional DTH market with immediate effect.
 
Location :87.5° East Longitude
Manufacturer :Thales Alenia Space
Launch Date :22nd November 2012
Bus :SB4000C2
Equivalent Transponder Capacity :24 C-band, 23 Ku-band

http://www.supremesat.com/our_satellite.html

[Adonis1]

ChinaSat 12

● Manufacturer: Thales Alenia Space, France
● Bus: SB4000C2
● Polarization:  Linear Polarization
● Orbit location: 87.5°E
● Payload: 47 C-band and Ku-band transponders
● Coverage: Asia, Africa, Australia including the regions of  China Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, etc.
 
ChinaSat 12  will be launched on december, 2012 onboard a Chinese LM-3B/E launch vehicle and positioned at the orbital slot of 87.5°E. It provides commercial communications services with twenty-four C-band and twenty-three Ku-band transponders. 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.

http://www.chinasatcom.com/en/News_Info.aspx?m=20110329113845577061&n=20110329133944310204

[Liss]

NOTAMs issued:

A1463/12 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N272159E1083650-N273125E1074313-N271528E1073946-N270603E1083315 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS: SFC-UNL. ALL ACFT ARE PROHIBITED TO FLY INTO THE AREA. SFC - UNL, 22 NOV 09:51 2012 UNTIL 22 NOV 10:30 2012. CREATED: 20 NOV 02:22 2012

A1464/12 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N260808E1142921-N261444E1140013-N255857E1135553-N255223E1142456 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS: SFC-UNL. ALL ACFT ARE PROHIBITED TO FLY INTO THE AREA. SFC - UNL, 22 NOV 09:53 2012 UNTIL 22 NOV 10:41 2012. CREATED: 20 NOV 02:26 2012

[Indika Perera]

Satellite Integration with the Launch Vehicle

http://www.supremesat.com/

[input~2]

NOTAMs issued:

A1463/12 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N272159E1083650-N273125E1074313-N271528E1073946-N270603E1083315 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS: SFC-UNL. ALL ACFT ARE PROHIBITED TO FLY INTO THE AREA. SFC - UNL, 22 NOV 09:51 2012 UNTIL 22 NOV 10:30 2012. CREATED: 20 NOV 02:22 2012

In the case of Apstar-7, launched at 1027UTC, the boosters debris NOTAMed period started at 1020UTC, so it's possible that Chinasat-12 launch window starts at 0958UTC

[dedead]

Everything is green for the flight now !
Chinese people are wonderful ! This campaign was a really great experience at technical and human levels. Crossing fingers for the november 22th now !

[input~2]

Everything is green for the flight now !
Chinese people are wonderful ! This campaign was a really great experience at technical and human levels. Crossing fingers for the november 22th now !

Hi dedead! good to hear!
do you have a confirmation of lift-off time?