Artistic rendition of the MEASAT-3b satellite.
MEASAT Global Berhad (“MEASAT”) has selected Astrium to build MEASAT-3b, a new satellite to augment its core Ku-band business in Malaysia, India and Indonesia. Planned to be launched in 2013 and positioned at 91.5 degrees East, co-located with MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3a, the powerful MEASAT-3b satellite will more than double the current Ku-band capacity operated by MEASAT. The agreement was executed by a MEASAT subsidiary. MEASAT-3b will be based on Astrium’s highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform and will be able to provide 48 Ku-band transponders simultaneously, providing MEASAT with large capacity and flexibility over three distinct geographical locations — Malaysia, Indonesia and India. The satellite has also been designed to support a fourth market. MEASAT-3b is designed to have a launch mass of 5.8 tons, an electrical power of 16 kW, and had a life expectancy of more than 15 years of operation.