JSAT Orders 7^TH Satellite from BSS

Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) and JSAT signed an agreement in April 2000 for a Boeing 601 model satellite. Known as JCSAT-8, the spacecraft is the seventh satellite ordered by JSAT from BSS.

JCSAT-8 replaces JCSAT-2 at the orbital slot of 154 degrees East longitude. This will enable the new satellite to provide coverage to Japan, East Asia, Australia and Hawaii. The satellite was launched on March 28, 2002 aboard an Ariane 4 rocket.

Stowed (left); In Orbit (right)

JCSAT-8 carries 16 Ku-band transponders, each with 120 watts provided by traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and 16 C-band transponders, each with 34 watts provided by solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs).

JSAT has been a BSS customer since the 1980s. The first two spacecraft ordered were 393 model spinning satellites. JCSAT-3 through 6 are all Boeing 601 bodystabilized models. These satellites have at least twice the power of the spinning versions. BSS also built JSAT's master control station in Yokohama and the backup station in Gunma.

JCSAT-8 is the latest in the Boeing 601 satellite line. As of January 2002, customers around the world have ordered more than 80 Boeing 601s, making the Boeing 601 the most-purchased commercial communications satellite model. Like all 601s, the new satellite will consist of a cube-shaped center payload section, with the solar panel wings extending from the north and south sides, and an antenna array.

Boeing Satellite Systems is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, and is also a major provider of space systems, satellites, and payloads for national defense, science and environmental applications.