The ChinaSat series satellites are geostationary communications satellites, mainly used for television broadcasting and data transmission. Their service scope covers the entire country, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, Europe, Africa and other regions. The ChinaSat series satellites are now operated by China Satellite Communications Group, and were originally operated by China Communications and Broadcasting Satellite Corporation, a subsidiary of the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. (1) ChinaSat 7 On August 18, 1996, ChinaSat 7 was launched from the LC-3 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3 carrier rocket. ChinaSat 7 was developed by Hughes Company, has a mass of 1384 kg, a design life of 10 years, and an international satellite identifier of 1996-048A. The relevant parameters are as follows: Orbital eccentricity: 0.3500972 Orbital inclination: 16.9288° Perigee altitude: 19919 km Apogee altitude: 48252 km Ascending node right ascension: 199.0247° Perigee argument: 249.2527° Daily number of Earth orbits: 1.06658803 (2) Zhongxing 22 On January 25, 2000, ChinaSat 22 was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 3A carrier rocket. ChinaSat 22 was developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a mass of 2,310 kg, a design life of 8 years, and an international satellite identifier of 2000-003A. ChinaSat 22 is also known as the Fenghuo-1A (FH 1A) military tactical communications satellite. It is my country’s first military communications satellite to support the military’s command, control, communications, and intelligence systems. The successful launch of ChinaSat-22 marks that my country’s military satellite communications industry has reached the world’s advanced level in the 1990s. The relevant parameters are as follows: Orbital eccentricity: 0.0005932 Orbital inclination: 11.7265° Perigee altitude: 36609 km Apogee altitude: 36660 km Ascending node right ascension: 35.5199° Perigee argument: 300.6143° Daily number of Earth orbits: 0.97320943 (3) Zhongxing 22A On September 12, 2006, ChinaSat 22A was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 3A carrier rocket. ChinaSat 22A was developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a mass of 2,310 kg, a design life of 8 years, and an international satellite identifier of 2006-038A. ChinaSat 22A was launched to replace ChinaSat 22. The relevant parameters of Zhongxing 22A are as follows: Orbital eccentricity: 0.0000981
Orbital inclination: 10.7010°
Perigee height: 35836 km
Apogee altitude: 35844 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 40.8502°
Argument of perigee: 68.5985°
Number of Earth circles per day: 1.00079804
(4) ChinaSat 6B On July 5, 2007, ChinaSat 6B was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B carrier rocket. ChinaSat 6B is designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space of France. The satellite platform uses the SB4000C2 developed by Alcatel Space of France. ChinaSat 6B has a mass of 4600 kg and a design life of 15 years. It is a C-band communication satellite and the transponder traveling wave tube power amplifier TWTA is 82W. VISTAR 6B can cover China, Mongolia, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, the Asian part of Russia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, Australia, New Zealand and other regions, providing high-quality, high-reliability radio and television program uplink transmission and terrestrial reception services for local radio stations, TV stations, wireless transmitters and cable TV networks. The relevant parameters of ChinaSat 6B are as follows: Orbital eccentricity: 0.0003885
Orbital inclination: 1.2638°
Perigee height: 35769 km
Apogee altitude: 35801 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 86.9686°
Perigee argument: 267.1531°
Number of Earth circles per day: 1.00275320
(5) Zhongxing 9
On June 9, 2008, ChinaSat 9 was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 3B carrier rocket. ChinaSat 9 is designed and manufactured by France’s Thales Alenia Space. The satellite platform uses the SB4100 series of mature commercial satellite platforms developed by France’s Alcatel Space Company. The satellite mass is 4,500 kg and has a design life of 15 years. ChinaSat 9 is a high-power, high-reliability, and long-life television satellite that adopts a three-axis stabilization method and uses a circularly polarized antenna. The satellite is fixed in the geosynchronous orbit of 92.2° east longitude. It provides 22 BSS band transponder live broadcast services, covering the entire country (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). The relevant parameters are as follows:
Orbital eccentricity: 0.0004184
Orbital inclination: 0.0168°
Perigee altitude: 35768 km
Apogee altitude: 35804 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 187.4184°
Perigee argument: 196.3141°
Number of Earth circles per day: 1.00271875
(6) Zhongxing 6A
On September 4, 2010, ChinaSat 6A was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B/G2 carrier rocket. ChinaSat 6A was developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a mass of about 5,000 kg, a design life of 15 years, and an international satellite identifier of 2010-042A. The relevant parameters of Vitex 6A are as follows:
Orbital eccentricity: 0.0003639
Orbital inclination: 3.0903°
Perigee height: 35933 km
Apogee altitude: 35964 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 82.7497°
Argument of perigee: 261.6121°
Number of Earth circles per day: 0.99695395
(7) Star 10
On June 20, 2011, ChinaSat 10 was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B/G2 carrier rocket. ChinaSat 10 was developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a mass of about 5,000 kg, a design life of 15 years, and an international satellite identifier of 2011-026A. ChinaSat 10, also known as Xinnuo 5, uses the Dongfanghong-4 satellite platform independently developed by my country. It introduces payloads from abroad and provides commercial communication services with 30 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders. ChinaSat 10 is used to take over the work of ChinaSat 5B at the orbital position of 110.5 degrees east longitude, thereby meeting the needs of users in my country, West Asia, South Asia and other countries and regions for communications, radio and television, data transmission, digital broadband multimedia and streaming media services. The relevant parameters are as follows:
Orbital eccentricity: 0.0000923
Orbital inclination: 0.0529°
Perigee height: 35781 km
Apogee altitude: 35789 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 267.4750°
Perigee argument: 270.0890°
Number of Earth circles per day: 1.00274629
(8) Zhongxing 1A
On September 18, 2011, ChinaSat 1A was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B/G3 carrier rocket. ChinaSat 1A was developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a mass of 5320 kg and a design life of 11 years. The international satellite identifier is 2011-047A. The relevant parameters are as follows:
Orbital eccentricity: 0.0004168
Orbital inclination: 2.5834°
Perigee altitude: 35830 km
Apogee altitude: 35865 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 83.9610°
Perigee argument: 283.3048°
Number of Earth circles per day: 1.00051600
(9) ChinaSat 12 On November 27, 2012, ChinaSat 12 was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B/G2 carrier rocket. ChinaSat 12 is designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space of France. The satellite platform uses Spacebus 4000 C2, which uses three-axis stabilization and linear polarization. ChinaSat 12 is fixed at 87.5° east longitude and provides commercial communication services with 47 C and Ku band transponders. It provides communications, radio and television, data transmission, digital broadband multimedia and streaming media services to users in my country, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa, Australia, my country’s waters and the Indian Ocean region. The relevant parameters are as follows: Orbital eccentricity: 0.0002977 Orbital inclination: 0.0108° Perigee altitude: 35773 km Apogee altitude: 35798 km Ascending node right ascension: 158.6969° Perigee argument: 206.1196° Daily number of Earth orbits: 1.00274177 (10) Zhongxing 11 On May 1, 2013, ChinaSat 11 was launched from the LC-2 launch station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B/G2 carrier rocket. ChinaSat 11 was developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, with a mass of 5234 kg and a design life of 15 years. ChinaSat 11 uses the Dongfanghong-4 satellite platform, which is equipped with high-power fixed and mobile beams and transponder switching capabilities, and provides commercial communication services with 45 C- and Ku-band transponders. ChinaSat 11 is located at 98° east longitude to meet the communication, radio and television, data transmission, digital broadband multimedia and streaming media business needs of users in the Asia-Pacific region. The relevant parameters are as follows:
Orbital eccentricity: 0.0005055
Orbital inclination: 0.0183°
Perigee height: 35765 km
Apogee altitude: 35807 km
Right ascension of ascending node: 259.5107°
Argument of perigee: 67.1455°
Number of Earth circles per day: 1.00271996
