Japan’s JCSAT-1B Satellite Also in Trouble

TOKYO, Jan. 20/Satnews Daily/ ¾ Japan’s JSAT Corp. said on Tuesday its JCSAT-1B communications satellite experienced an anomaly on January 17 at 21:26 JST, leading to difficulties with services provided by the satellite.

JSAT President and CEO Kiyoshi Isozaki reported that all channels provided by the satellite are currently unavailable. He said JSAT has determined that JCSAT-1B experienced an anomaly in one of its thrusters and preparations are currently being made to operate the satellite using its remaining functional thrusters.

He added JSAT has begun moving its back-up satellite into the orbital position of JCSAT-1B. He added the company expects to steadily begin restoring services provided by JCSAT-1B from around 03:00 JST yesterday, January 19.

JCSAT-1B satellite, located at 150 degrees East covers Japan, Asia and Hawaii. It has broad Ku-band coverage making it suitable for domestic as well as international telecommunications services.

JCSAT-1B was launched on December 3, 1997 on Ariane 4 launch vehicle. The satellite, a Boeing 601, was manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems, and has a design lifetime of 12 years.

Recent Stories:

JSAT Expands Distribution Capacity With Snell & Wilcox Infrastructure

Lockheed Martin Expands Contract with Integral Systems to Include JCSAT-10