APStar-6B is a communications satellite built as potential backup for the APStar-6 satellite.
To minimize its potential losses, APT secured a commitment from launch-services supplier China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC) of Beijing that, in the event of an APStar-6 launch failure, CGWIC would design, build and launch an Apstar-6B satellite for $120 million.
Insurance and other charges would bring the cost of Apstar-6B to $165 million. Apstar-6B would use China's DFH-4 satellite design and carry 28 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders.
After the successful launch of APStar-6, APStar 6B was to be launched in 2008 to enhance the APT satellite system, but apparently APT did not execise the option and the satellite was cancelled in 2006.
Nation: | China |
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Type / Application: | Communication |
Operator: | APT Satellite Company Ltd. |
Contractors: | CAST |
Equipment: | 28 C-band transponders, 16 Ku-band transponders |
Configuration: | DFH-4 Bus |
Propulsion: | |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 15 years |
Mass: | |
Orbit: | GEO |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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APStar 6B | - | cancelled | Xi LC-2 | CZ-3B |