ChinaSat 11● Manufacturer: China Academy of Space Technology
● Polarization: Linear Polarization
● Payload: 45 C-band and Ku-band transponders
● Coverage: China, East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia including the regions of China Sea and Indian Ocean
ChinaSat 11 is scheduled to be brought into use in the 2nd quarter of 2013. Featuring multiple high power fixed and mobile beams and transponder switching capability, it will provide for commercial broadcasting and communications services with 45 C-band and Ku-band transponders to meet the needs of Direct-to-Home, data transmission, digital broadband multimedia and streaming media for clients in Asia, Africa, Australia including the regions of China Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, etc.
http://www.chinasatcom.com/en/News_Info.aspx?m=20110329113845577061&n=20110329133944310204
Now scheduled at late March. This should be the first Chinese launch of the year.
Source: http://lt.cjdby.net/thread-1534256-1-1.html
It's so disappointing that there will be no launches in the first two months, while there were three in the same period of time last year...
Finally got someone who knows what's happening to speak about it.
Launch is currently planned in early May.
Source
The satellite was flown to the launch site by a rented Antonov 124 on March 24.
Source
The satellite has finished loading propellant on April 16, and should be encapsulated and transported to the launch pad very soon.
This satellite is the largest (in terms of power supply, transponder numbers and mass) Chinese commercial communication satellite ever built.
I am not confident with my recent guesses, but judging from the date the rocket arrives at the launch site and this recent status report, I think May 1st +- 2 days is a reasonable guess of the launch date.
Source:
http://www.spacechina.com/n25/n144/n206/n214/c412813/content.html
One forum member who may be visiting for this launch reports a May 2 LT launch date. Asking for clarification whether it will be before or after midnight (i.e. whether the launch is on May 1 or May 2 GMT).
Unconfirmed report: this may be pushed back a few days as an M7 earthquake hit the area a few hours ago - the rocket needs re-adjustments and safety checks.
..............
or maybe not? It turns out that while the launch team did take measures in the event of another earthquake, the pad flow was actually not disrupted - on April 20 (the day the M7.0 earthquake struck) the mating of the satellite to the interstage was completed as scheduled, and on the next day the satellite was transported to the pad and mated to the launch vehicle. It looks like that there will not be any delays to the launch.
These NOTAMs are for the boosters and the fairing debris.
As usual don't expect any NOTAM for the 1st or 2nd stage debris.
Launch countdown in process... (third stage fueling in progress)
BTW Exact launch time still unclear - one source that I can't find reports 16:08Z.
The rocket earlier today:
Launch countdown in process... (third stage fueling in progress)
BTW Exact launch time still unclear - one source that I can't find reports 16:08Z.
I am showing 1610UTC-1622UTC as estimated launch window for today based on compiled info I collected.
Roughly at T-1 hour and counting. Not much updates right now I'm afraid....
Launch viewing area TV screenshot at about 10 minutes ago:
Launch tower service platforms retracting....
The satellite carries 26 C-band and 19 Ku-band transponders - a new Chinese record.
The full silhouette of the CZ-3B.
Launch is currently planned in early May.
