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ARABSAT

Industry	Satellite communication
Founded	1976
Headquarters	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Website	http://www.arabsat.com/

The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a leading communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat owns and operates five satellites platforms at orbital positions 20°, 26° and 30.5° East. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and private telecommunications services to the Arab States, in accordance with International Standards. With more than 20 member countries, the organization plays a vital role of enhancing communications in the Arab World.^[1]

History[link]

The foundation of Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) dates back to the end of 1960s. In 1967, information ministers of Arab states developed a series of principles in relation to a satellite network. The goal of this network was to create an integration among the countries of the Arab League in terms of the social and cultural activities. On the other hand, the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) was established in 1969. Saudi Arabia did not join this Egypt-led and Cairo-based Union until 1974, most probably due to the tense relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt at the time.^[2]

On April 14, 1976, ARABSAT was formed under Arab League jurisdiction with the goal of serving the information, cultural and educational needs of its member states. Saudi Arabia was the main financier of the new organization due to its expanded financial resources as a result of oil-boom period and Riyadh housed ARABSAT's headquarters.^[3]

Its first attempt to launch was failed that was performed by a French Ariane rocket and led to the loss of the first satellite 1-A. The U.S. space shuttle Discovery achieved to launch its second satellite, 1-B in 1985. ARABSAT 1-A and 1-B were switched off in 1992 and 1993, respectively.^[4]

Coverage[link]

Arabsat's satellites provide coverage to more than 100 countries in the Middle East, Africa and the major parts of Europe.

Satellites Launch[link]

Arabsat-1[link]

Arabsat-1 are the first generation satellites built by an international team led by Aérospatiale of France. It is The world's best satellite with three-axis stabilized Spacebus 100 spacecraft with two deployable solar array wings, making it almost 68 ft (20.7 m) long and over 18 ft (5.5 m) wide when deployed in orbit. It weighs about 2,800 lb (1,270 kg) in its initial orbit, but some 1,490 lb (675 kg) of this is propellant. It has an onboard low-thrust motor that utilizes hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, and transfers from an initial elliptical to geosynchronous orbit by firing this motor. The remaining propellant is then used for station-keeping or moving over the life of the satellite.

Arabsat-1A, the first satellite of Arabsat, was launched by Ariane on 8 February 1985. Shortly after launch it suffered a solar panel extension malfunction. Coupled with other failures, the satellite was soon relegated to backup status until it was abandoned completely in late 1991.

Arabsat-1B, the second flight model, was deployed on June 1985, from the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-51-G, and placed into service near 26° East, and remained in operation until the summer of 1992. The crew who deployed it contained Salman Al Saud, the first Arab and Muslim, and only Saudi, to fly in space.

Arabsat-1C the third satellite of the series, was launched by Ariane on 26 February 1992 and operated until 1994. As a stop-gap measure to maintain network services until the Arabsat second generation spacecraft became available, the organization leased the Canadian Anik D2 spacecraft in 1993.

Arabsat-1D was renamed from a Hughes HS-376 bus originally carriing 24 active C-band transponders and moved from the Western Hemisphere during April - August 1993 to a position at 20° E.

Arabsat-2[link]

By the end of 1994, the Arabsat system had been reduced to only one satellite. A contract for two Arabsat second generation satellites was signed with Aérospatiale in April 1993 based on a Spacebus 3000A platform.

Arabsat-2A, the first model, was launched in 1996.

Arabsat-2B followed shortly thereafter in an ongoing effort to maintain a multiple satellite network.

BADR-C (technically: Arabsat-2C) was renamed from PAS 5 and moved from the Western Hemisphere during November 2002 to a position at 26° E.

BADR-2 (technically: Arabsat-2D) was renamed from Hotbird 5 and moved from the position 13° E during November 2002 to a position at 26° E.

Arabsat-3[link]

On November 7, 1996 a contract was signed with Aérospatiale for the manufacturing of the first of the third-generation satellites, based on a Spacebus 3000B2 platform. BADR-3 (technically: Arabsat-3A) was launched to the orbit of 26° East, the same orbit of Arabsat-2A, in 1999 as the first satellite of the third generation.

Arabsat-4[link]

On 22 October 2003, Arabsat held a contract signing ceremony for the manufacture and launch of the fourth generation of Arabsat satellites, based on the Astrium's Eurostar E2000+ platform. The first of these, Arabsat-4A, was lost in space due to a launcher failure.^[5][6][7] This led to the ordering of BADR-6 (technically: Arabsat-4AR) on 31 May 2006. The second fourth generation satellite, named BADR-4 (technically: Arabsat-4B), was launched on 8 November 2006. BADR-6 was launched 2008-07-07 on an Ariane 5 to replace the lost Arabsat-4A.^[8]

Arabsat-5[link]

On 16 June 2007, Arabsat held a contract-signing ceremony for the manufacture and launch of the fifth generation of Arabsat satellites, based on the Astrium's Eurostar E3000 platform:

• The first of the fifth-generation satellite, named BADR-5 (technically: Arabsat-5B), was launched by Proton at Arabsat's 26° East Direct-to-Home television "Hot Spot" on 3 June 2010.
• The second of the fifth-generation satellites, Arabsat-5A, was launched by Ariane at the 30.5° East orbital location on 26 June 2010.
• The third of the fifth-generation satellites, Arabsat-5C, was launched to the new 20° East orbital location on 21 September 2011.

Services[link]

• Direct To Home (DTH) television broadcasting
• Broadband & Telephony backbone connectivity
• Satellite Internet
• VSATs

Fleet[link]

In orbit

• Arabsat-5C (20° E)
• BADR-4 (26° E)
• BADR-5 (26° E)
• BADR-6 (26° E)
• Arabsat-5A (30.5° E)
• Arabsat-2B (34.5° E)

Upcoming

• Badr-7 (Arabsat-6B) (26° E)

See also[link]

• http://www.arabsat.com/

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• (French)(English) Guy Lebègue, (trad. Robert J. Amral), « Arabasat 2: New generation, New Services », in Revue aerospatiale, n°100, January 1993.
• (French)(English) Guy Lebègue, (trad. Robert J. Amral), « Arabasat 2A: the new generation of Spacebus 3000 », in Revue aerospatiale, n°130, July 1996.

External links[link]

• Official site