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Liftoff was at 7:53 p.m. in Kourou aboard an ARIANESPACE Ariane 44P rocket. The spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle 26 minutes later. About 10:15 p.m. in Kourou, less than three hours after launch, the Eastern Hemisphere Telemetry, Tracking and Control station, located near Sydney, Australia, received BSAT-1b's first signals, confirming that it is operating normally.

BSAT-1b is an HS 376 spin-stabilized satellite and is an in-orbit spare for BSAT-1a, launched April 16, 1997, to provide direct-broadcast services (DBS) to more than 10 million customers in Japan. Services available include NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), WOWOW (Japan Satellite Broadcasting, Inc.), and others. The spacecraft will carry four active and four spare high-power transponders in Ku-band, using 106-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers. BSAT-1b will join BSAT-1a at 110 degrees East longitude and has a 10-year contracted service life.

BSAT-1b is the 42nd satellite Hughes has delivered in-orbit, having procured launch onboard an ARIANESPACE Ariane 44P rocket on behalf of B-SAT. Hughes Space and Communications Company, a unit of Hughes Electronics, is the world's leading manufacturer of geostationary commercial communications satellites, and is also a major supplier of spacecraft and equipment to the United States government, and a builder of weather satellites for the United States and Japan. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock.