THAICOM 6

Mission logo of THAICOM 6
Mission type	Communication
Operator	Thaicom
COSPAR ID	2014-002A
SATCAT no.	39500
Mission duration	15 years[1]
Spacecraft properties
Bus	GEOStar-2
Manufacturer	Orbital Sciences Corporation
Launch mass	3,325 kg (7,330 lb)[1]
Power	3.7 kW (5.0 hp)[2]
Start of mission
Launch date	January 6, 2014, 22:06 (2014-01-06UTC22:06Z) UTC
Rocket	Falcon 9 v1.1
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-40
Contractor	SpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	78.5° East[1]
Perigee altitude	35,789 kilometres (22,238 mi)[3]
Apogee altitude	35,795 kilometres (22,242 mi)[3]
Inclination	0.07 degrees[3]
Period	1436.07 minutes[3]
Epoch	25 January 2015, 02:13:56 UTC[3]
Transponders
Band	18 C band 8 Ku band
Frequency	72, 36 MHz C band 54, 36 MHz Ku band
Coverage area	Southeast Asia, Africa & Americas

THAICOM 6 (Thai: ไทยคม 6) is a Thai satellite of the Thaicom series, operated by Thaicom Public Company Limited, a subsidiary of INTOUCH headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. THAICOM 6 is colocated with Thaicom 5 at 78.5 degrees East, in geostationary orbit. The total cost for the satellite is US$160 million.

Overview

THAICOM 6 is a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft, carrying 18 active C-band transponders and 8 active Ku-band transponders. The Ku-band transponders are both addressed as well as beam-switched to broadband. THAICOM 6 provides communication service to Southeast Asia, Africa and Madagascar^[4] with its primary role being DTH service for Thailand.^{[2][needs update]}

Launch

The spacecraft was launched on 6 January 2014, by SpaceX on a Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. The payload was delivered by SpaceX to a 90,000 kilometers (56,000 mi)-apogee supersynchronous elliptical transfer orbit that will later be reduced by the satellite builder Orbital Sciences Corporation to an approximately 35,800 kilometers (22,200 mi) circular geostationary orbit. The supersynchronous transfer orbit enables an inclination plane change with a lower expenditure of propellant by the satellite's kick motor.^[5]`

This launch was SpaceX's second transport of a payload to a Geostationary transfer orbit.^[6][7] Both the SES-8 SpaceX launch before this one and THAICOM 6 utilized a supersynchronous transfer orbit, but Thaicom 6 was at a somewhat greater apogee than that used for SES-8.^[5]

The Falcon 9 upper stage used to launch THAICOM 6 was left in a decaying elliptical low-Earth orbit which decayed over time and, on 28 May 2014, re-entered the atmosphere and burned up.^[8]