Orbital Thaicom 8 - Manual

Communications
Mission Description
Orbital Sciences Corporation was selected by Thaicom PLC. to build their eighth satellite, Thaicom
8. The Thaicom 8 satellite design is based on Orbital’s highly successful, flight-proven, GEOStar-2
™
satellite platform, and will be manufactured and tested at Orbital’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility
in Dulles, Virginia.
Thaicom 8 will be located at 78.5 degrees East Longitude and carry a Ku-band payload that will
generate approximately 5 kilowatts of payload power. The Ku-band payload will be comprised of
24 active transponders providing services to Thailand, India and Africa.
The GEOStar ™ Advantage
Orbital’s highly successful Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) communications satellites are based on
the company’s GEOStar spacecraft platform, which is able to accommodate all types of commercial
communications payloads and is compatible with all major commercial launchers. The company’s
GEOStar product line includes the GEOStar-2 design, which is optimized for smaller satellite missions
that can support up to 5.0 kilowatts of payload power. Orbital has also developed the higher-power
GEOStar-3 spacecraft design, delivering the next increment of payload power for applications between
5.0 and 8.0 kilowatts, allowing Orbital to offer its innovative and reliable satellite design to the
medium-class of communications satellites.
Coverage:
Thailand, India and Africa
Mission:
Ku-band communications
Customer:
Thaicom PLC
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Thaicom 8 is based on Orbital's GEOStar-2
satellite platform, and will undergo integration
and testing at Orbital’s Dulles, Virginia
satellite manufacturing facility.
Thaicom 8
Ku-band Commercial Communications Satellite
GEO