Orbital Thaicom 6 User Manual
Thaicom 6, Mission description, The geostar

Communications
Mission Description
Orbital Sciences Corporation was selected by Thaicom PLC to build their sixth satellite, Thaicom 6. The
Thaicom 6 satellite design is based on Orbital’s highly successful, flight-proven, GEOStar-2
™
satellite
platform, and was manufactured and tested at Orbital’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Dulles,
Virginia.
Thaicom 6 carries a hybrid Ku- and C-band payload operates on approximately 3.5 kilowatts of payload
power. The Ku-band payload is comprised of eight active transponders (9 x 36 - MHz Transponder
Equivalent) providing services to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. The C-band payload
features 12 active C-band transponders providing services via a regional beam to Southeast Asia and
six active C-band transponders (12 x 36 - MHz TPE) providing services to 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, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar,
Southeast Asia and Africa
Mission:
C- and Ku-band communications
Customer:
Thaicom PLC
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Thaicom 6 in Orbital's Dulles, Virginia satellite
manufacturing facility
Thaicom 6
Hybrid C-band and Ku-band Commercial Communications Satellite
GEO