APT Orders New Satellite as Apstar-9 Reaches Orbit

Satellite fleet operator APT Satellite Holdings of Hong Kong has contracted with China Great Wall Industry Corp. to build, launch and insure an Apstar-6C satellite for launch in mid-2018 in a contract valued at $180 million. The contract was signed on the same day, Oct. 17, as APT’s Apstar-9 was successfully placed into geostationary transfer orbit by a Chinese Long March 3B rocket operating from China’s Xichang spaceport in Sichuan Province. The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) said the 5,250-kilogram Apstar-9 was placed into an orbit with an apogee of 41,965 kilometers and a perigee of 212 kilometers, and was healthy in orbit and sending signals. More

(Source: SpaceNews - Oct 21)