The Measat-3b satellite is confirmed for launch on May 28, 2014, on Ariane Flight VA218.
Manufactured by Airbus Space and Defence, the Measat-3b satellite will be launched on an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Launch and Early Orbit Phase operations will be conducted from the Airbus Defence and Space’s spacecraft control centre in Toulouse.
Measat-3b is the 36th Eurostar E3000 satellite. Two other E3000s are about to be launched in the next few weeks from their respective launch sites and nine more are currently at various stages of production in Airbus Defence and Space’s factories.
Measat-3b is designed to provide an additional 48 high-powered Ku-band transponders to expand direct-to-home and VSAT services across Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Australia at the 91.5 degrees East orbital slot.
Co-located with Measat-3 and Measat-3a, the satellite will more than double Measat’s Ku-band capacity at this orbital location.