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TS News - China Launches Apstar 1A




TELE-satellit News, 4 July 1996

China Launches Apstar 1A
  XICHANG, Sichuan, China, 96/07/03 (TS) -- Chinese space agency officals
breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday evening when the country's Long March
3 rocket carried the American build Apstar 1A satellite successfully into
orbit for its owners and Hughes Space and  Communications Company.

  Apstar 1A is a satellite based on the Hughes HS-376 platform built for
operators APT Satellite Company of Hong Kong. In Wednesday's launch, a Long
March 3 rocket lifted off at 6:47pm Beijing time (6:47am EDT, 1047 UTC) and
carried the satellite for about 20 minutes to a parking orbit. Satellite
controllers have contacted Apstar IA, and indications are that it is
operating normally.

  Apstar IA will carry general communications traffic such as voice, data
and television signals across China, Hong Kong,  Indonesia, Japan,
Singapore, Vietnam and India. It includes coverage for India that was not
available on the Apstar I satellite, a similar HS 376 model built by Hughes
and launched on a Long March  3 on July 21, 1994.

(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.


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