SingTel | April 5, 2011 | Press Release
ST-2 scheduled to launch in May 2011
Singapore, 5 April 2011 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced that its ST-2 satellite has completed assembly and integration, and successfully passed all major tests. The satellite is currently being shipped to its launch site, and scheduled for launch in mid-May 2011.
The satellite, a joint venture with Chunghwa Telecom, was put through a series of rigorous acoustic, vibration and thermal-vacuum tests to ensure its robustness ahead of its journey through the constantly changing space environment as it goes into orbit.
“SingTel is the only homegrown company in Singapore to own commercial satellites and we are very excited about the launch of ST-2, our second satellite,” said Mr Bill Chang, SingTel’s Executive Vice President, Business Group. “With 20 per cent more transponder capacity and a wider coverage footprint than ST-1, ST-2 will help increase our capacity to meet growing customer demand for fixed and mobile satellite services in the Broadcast, Maritime and Oil & Gas industries.”
Extending satellite services across the continent
ST-2 will have a wide-ranging footprint of C-band and Ku-band coverage that will cover the Middle East, Central Asia, Indian sub-continent and South East Asia. Apart from its high powered beams, it will also offer excellent switching capabilities among different regions to provide flexibility in meeting the demand that is required by different regions.
“ST-2 is almost twice as powerful as our first satellite, which means our customer’s antennas don’t have to work as hard to pick up signals. This translates into greater energy efficiency and cost savings for them,” added Mr Chang.
The wider footprint also means that customers in the Maritime industry are able to access satellite communications over larger areas while out at sea, and customers on land – for example those providing satellite broadcast services – are able to reach a geographically more extensive base of customers.
Demand for ST-2 services has been strong, with over 70 per cent of capacity already signed up by customers.
ST-2 will be launched by an Ariane-5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. ST-1, which was launched in 1998, will go into inclined orbit.
Together with its wholly owned subsidiary Optus, SingTel is Asia’s leading satellite operator outside Japan. In Singapore, SingTel has four satellite earth stations providing direct transmission to over 80 countries, strategic investments in APT in Hong Kong, and owns long term leased capacity on 15 global and regional satellites. Combined with SingTel’s extensive international cable network, this enables the company to offer a full suite of communications solutions to its corporate customers.
