Optus fleet of satellites

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This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company.

Contents 1 A-Class 1.1 Aussat (Optus) A1 1.2 Aussat (Optus) A2 1.3 Aussat (Optus) A3 2 B-Class 2.1 Optus B1 2.1.1 Failures 2.2 Optus B2 2.3 Optus B3 3 Optus (and Defence) C1 3.1 Television Services 3.2 Defence Services 4 D-Class 4.1 Optus D1 4.1.1 Incorrect configuration of New Zealand spot beam 4.2 Optus D2 (under construction) 4.3 Optus D3 (planned) 5 External links 5.1 Satellite information and orbital data 5.2 Manufacturer satellite information pages 5.3 Satellite operators

[edit] A-Class

• Satellite Type: Hughes HS-376
• Design Life: 7 Years for A1 & A2 - 10 Years for A3
• Equipment: 15 K_u band transponders

The Aussat A-Class satellites were funded by the Government for Aussat Pty Ltd. When Optus was granted a telecommunications carrier licence, the Aussat A-Class satellites were also a part of the carrier licence deal.

[edit] Aussat (Optus) A1

• Launch Date: 27 August 1985 (Out of service; not deorbited)

[edit] Aussat (Optus) A2

• Launch Date: 27 November 1985 (Out of service; not deorbited)

[edit] Aussat (Optus) A3

• Launch Date: 16 September 1987 (On station but in a 7.7° inclined orbit)
• Satellite will be 190% over design life by the time it is replaced
• Optus A3 was transferred to orbital position 31.5'E which belongs to SES Astra. 01 July 2006 Several transponders are active for testing purposes to Europe.

[edit] B-Class

• Satellite Type: Hughes HS-601
• Design Life: 10 Years
• Equipment: 15 K_u band transponders, 1 L band tranponder, K_a band beacon, laser retroreflector

The B-Class satellites were launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center by Long March rockets.

[edit] Optus B1

• Operational Location: 160° East
• Launch Date: 13 August 1992
• Beacon frequencies: 12.748.000 H / 12.749.000 H

Optus B1 was retired in early 2007, following transfer of services to Optus D1 after 15 years of operation.

[edit] Failures

Satellite Control Processor

On 21 May 2005 services were temporarily lost when the Primary Satellite Control Processor failed. The satellite was switched to use the Backup SCP in order to restore services. Thereafter the satellite continued to operate from the Backup SCP. [1] [2]

March 2006 Positioning Failure

At 06:52 GMT on 30 March 2006, a routine repositioning manoeuvre failed, resulting in loss of pointing control of the satellite. Although communication with the satellite was not lost, transmission services provided by the satellite failed due to its incorrect positioning. Services were progressively restored between 18:00 and 20:00 GMT. [3] [4]

Local time at the time of the start of the outage ranged from 14:52 AWST to 18:52 NZST, a peak time for listeners and viewers of the radio and television broadcast and subscription services provided directly or indirectly by the satellite.

See also: SKY Network Television#2006 SKY Digital outage

[edit] Optus B2

• Launch Date: 21 December 1992

The launchcraft containing Optus B2 exploded on launch and was subsequently destroyed, for reasons that the designer Hughes and the Chinese (Launch Location) authorities were unable to determine.

However, according to [5], shortcomings in the launch vehicle guidance system meant that it failed to compensate for wind-shear effects within the first minute after launch.

[edit] Optus B3

• Location: 152° East (Previously 156° East, prior to Optus C1 launch)
• Launch Date: 27 August 1994

Optus B3 was launched as a replacement for the failed Optus B2.

This satellite is owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and leased back to Singtel Optus.

[edit] Optus (and Defence) C1

• Satellite Type: Space Systems/Loral (SSL): LS-1300
• Launch Date: 11 June 2003
• Location: 156° East
• Design Life: 15 Years
• Equipment: 24 K_u band transponders, 4 (+1) K_a band transponders, 4 X band transponders, 6 UHF transponders [6] [7]

Partially funded by the Australian Government (Defence Department) - Optus C1's use is shared between Defence and Telecommunications, in particular the supply of Television services to Australia.

[edit] Television Services

The K_u band Transponders are exclusively used for Television Services, mainly:

• Foxtel rent a considerable amount of satellite capacity for the transmission of their Foxtel Digital service (and onsold to Austar for their Austar Digital service).
• Optus operate the RABS Service Aurora, allowing Free to Air television to be accessed via satellite in areas that may not be able to access FTA services via terrestrial means. The service is also used in a commercial capacity by a number of organisations for satellite linkups.
• ABC - via the Aurora service allowing access to state tailored feeds of ABC TV in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory, Radio National in all Australian states except Northern Territory, Local Regional ABC radio, Classic FM in all states except Tasmania, Triple J in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, and News Radio.

[edit] Defence Services

The remaining transponders (being K_a band, X band and UHF) are exclusive for Defence/Military use.

[edit] D-Class

• Manufacturer: Orbital Sciences Corporation
• Satellite type: Orbital STAR-2 Platform
• Design life: 15+ years

The D1 and D2 satellites are expected to replace and expand the services provided by the B1 and B3 satellites respectively, which have both been operating beyond their design lifetimes.

[edit] Optus D1

• Location: 160° East
• Launch Date: 13 October 2006
• Equipment: 24 K_u band transponders
• Launch mass: 2350 kg

D1 was successfully launched by an Ariane 5 ECA on 13 October 2006 at 20:56 GMT. [8]

Customers on D1 include the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), the Seven Network, the Nine Network, Sky Television New Zealand and New Zealand's Kordia (formerly known as BCL). D1 also supports VSAT users. [9]

Kordia is leasing a full transponder for sublease to TVNZ (TV1 & TV2) and CanWest (TV3 & C4) for the FreeView service. The Kordia transponder will be on 12.4697GHz. [10]

[edit] Incorrect configuration of New Zealand spot beam

During in-orbit testing of the satellite, it was discovered that the New Zealand spot beam had been configured with horizontal polarisation instead of the expected vertical polarisation - as had been used on its predecessor Optus B1. [11][12]

As many existing receivers did not have the ability to receive horizontally aligned signals, Sky Television was unable to transfer services from Optus B1 to this beam as expected. Sky was instead assigned capacity on the more general Australia/NZ beam. Due to restrictions on broadcast rights (in terms of both broadcast licensing and copyright), the unencrypted FreeView service could not make a similar allocation switch and was set up as a horizontally-aligned service on the New Zealand spot beam. [13]

[edit] Optus D2 (under construction)

• Location: 156° East
• Expected Launch Date: Late 2007
• Equipment: 32 K_u band transponders

[edit] Optus D3 (planned)

• Expected Launch Date: 2009 [14]

[edit] External links

• Lyngsat Satellite Chart for Optus A3 / Astra 31.5E
• Lyngsat Satellite Chart for Optus B3
• Lyngsat Satellite Chart for Optus C1
• Lyngsat Satellite Chart for Optus D1

[edit] Satellite information and orbital data

• A3: Info | Orbit data
• B1: Info | Orbit data
• B3: Info | Orbit data
• C1: Info | Orbit data
• D1: Info | Orbit data

[edit] Manufacturer satellite information pages

• A Series: Boeing Satellite Development Center
• B1: Boeing Satellite Development Center
• C1: Space Systems/Loral
• D1 and D2: Orbital Sciences Corporation

[edit] Satellite operators

• Optus
• Australian Government Department of Defence