ANDREW JONES 2017/05/17

A Long March 3B launches Belintersat-1 for Belarus in January 2016.

The China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) today signed a contract to construct the Palapa-N1 telecommunications satellite for Indonesia, with launch to follow in 2020.

Palapa-N1 will be a high-throughput satellite (HTS) based on theDongfanghong-4E satellite bus and launched by a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China's Sichuan province.

The deal between CGWIC, a CASC subsidiary, and Palapa Satelit Nusa Sejahtera (PSNS), a joint venture of PT Indosat Tbk (Indosat Ooredoo) and PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) was signed in Jakarta on May 17, 2017.

According to the contract, CGWIC will provide the clients with the satellite, launch services, ground systems, insurance and finance support. The Ku band HTS satellite will be used to provide broadband services to Indonesia.

The satellite will be manufactured by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the Chinese space programme.

Above: A DFH-4 satellite bus (CAST).

Palapa-N1 will be placed at 113 degrees East in geostationary orbit, around 36,000 kilometres above the Earth, and will replace the Palapa-D satellite.

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket launched the Palapa D satellite in August 2009, but a failure with the third stage of the rocket meant the satellite, manufactured by Thales Alenia Space, needed to use its own propellant to reach the intended orbit, at a cost of a third of the Palapa D's 15 operational lifetime.

CGWIC also states a framework agreement for the PSN-VII satellite was also signed by PSN during the signing ceremony.

Indonesia's sat plans continue: After Palapa N1 Ku-HTS, here's footprint of PSN-7 at 146E. 100Gbps in Ka-band. @CGWIC MoU said to be signed.pic.twitter.com/2FuQym6QzX
— Peter B. de Selding (@pbdes) May 17, 2017

China last month launched its first HTS satellite, Shijian-13/Zhongxing-16, capable of around 20Gbps, and will next month launch Shijian-18, capable of around 70Gbps.
International launches

According to a CGWIC statement, the company has provided international commercial launch services 55 times for more than 20 countries or regions, including 12 international piggyback launches.

The company has also completed eight international projects involving DFH-4 communications satellites, including NigcomSat-1, VeneSat-1, PakSat-1R and NigcomSat-1R and TKSAT-1.

More recently, late 2015 saw the launch of Laosat-1 for Laos, followed by Belintersat-1 for Belarus in January 2016.

Above: Belintersat-1 loaded into the rocket payload fairing ahead of launch.

International contracted satellite launches by China that could go ahead in 2017 are Alcomsat-1 for Algeria, EgyptSat II, VRSS-2 for Venezuela, and SaudiSAT-5B.
 
China is aiming to supply at least 10 percent of the world's satellitesby 2020, according to Yuan Minhui, director of the Beijing Institute of Space Science and Technology Information.

Related: Here’s what China has planned for its space program in 2017
 

Date:2017-05-17