[SatNews UPDATE] The launch readiness review of the AsiaSat 8 satellite among AsiaSat, SpaceX and SSL has just been completed.

All systems are reported “go” for the August 5th launch at 1:25 p.m. HKT (1:25 a.m. EDT). The mated AsiaSat 8 payload fairing and the Falcon 9 two-stage launch vehicle will be rolled out to SpaceX’s Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral this evening.

AsiaSat 8, the latest communications satellite of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), is scheduled for launch at Hong Kong Time 1:25 p.m. (1:25 a.m. EDT or Cape Canaveral local time) on August 5th by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, U.S.A.

AsiaSat 8 being loaded into the shipping container.

Photo courtesy of SSL.

AsiaSat 8 is a Space Systems/Loral 1300 series satellite and has a design life of 15 years. With 24 Ku-band transponders and a Ka-band payload, AsiaSat 8 will co-locate with AsiaSat 7, where AsiaSat has established networks for service since 1990. The additional capacity from AsiaSat 8 will help to meet the growing market demand for quality satellite services in the Asia-Pacific region. AsiaSat 8’s powerful Ku-band beams cover China, India, the Middle East and South East Asia, with inter-beam switching capability to provide flexibility to address market requirements and for services including DTH television, private networks and broadband services.

A live webcast of the launch will be available athttp://www.asiasat.com/ or http://www.spacex.com/webcast/ will start approximately 15 minutes prior to liftoff, at about Hong Kong Time 1:10 p.m. (1:10 a.m. EDT or Cape Canaveral local time) on that date.