The Chinasat 6B telecommunication satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, was successfully boosted into orbit on Thursday July 5, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province by a Long March 3B rocket. Chinasat 6B will enable ChinaSatcom to offer communication and broadcast capabilities to the Chinese market.
Based on the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000 C2 platform, the satellite will be located at 115.5 degree East. Designed with a lifetime of more than 15 years, the Chinasat 6B satellite has 38 C-band transponders, a launch mass of 4.5 tons and will deliver 9.5 kW of electrical power. Thales Alenia Space has assisted ChinaSatcom for the launch campaign, and will support the company for orbital positioning and in-orbit tests.
