KUALA LUMPUR: MEASAT Global Bhd (MGB) has selected global aeronautics leader Airbus SE to build a new multimission telecommunications satellite, the MEASAT-3d.
The MEASAT-3d, which will be launched in 2021, will be MGB's eighth communications satellite and will provide C and Ku-bands capacity for direct to home (DTH), video distribution and telecommunication services.
The new HTS Ka-band mission features multiple user spot beams optimised to deliver high speed broadband communications over Malaysia to bridge the digital divide in the country.
It will also carry an L-band navigation hosted payload for the Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS) for KTSAT.
“With MEASAT-3d, MGB reaffirms its commitment to provide core infrastructure for the Malaysian ICT and broadcast industry. Collocated with MEASAT-3a and MEASAT-3b at 91.5°E, MEASAT-3d will serve the growth requirements of 4G & 5G mobile networks in Malaysia while continuing to provide redundancy and additional distribution capacity for video in HD, 4K and ultimately 8K in the Asia-Pacific region,” said MGB chief technology officer Dr Edmund Kong in a statement.
“Furthermore, MEASAT-3d will aid in bridging the digital divide in Malaysia by enabling 100 per cent coverage for high speed consumer broadband services to all Malaysian households.”
Head of Telecom Satellites at Airbus Arnaud de Rosnay voiced his pleasure in being selected again by MGB after also having built the MEASAT-3b.
“MEASAT has selected Airbus again to build their new multimission satellite which will be based on our highly reliable Eurostar E3000 product. The mission also builds on Airbus’ unique heritage in the field of SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System) navigation payloads. It is a great honor to have been trusted by both MEASAT and KTSAT to combine their missions, a true testament to our collective ability to be flexible – a key differentiator in today’s market,” he said while adding that there are already 46 E3000 satellites operating successfully in orbit.
Once completed, the MEASAT-3d is expected to progressively replace MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3a thus will able to support Asia’s premium DTH video distribution.