By Jonathan Easton

Airbus has confirmed that its MEASAT-3d telecommunications satellite is set for launch later this month.

The satellite is currently in Kourou, French Guiana and is ready for its launch on an Ariane 5 on 22 June 2022.

This is the 57th E3000 satellite built by Airbus. It will be positioned at the 91.5°E orbital slot and collocated with MEASAT-3b, also built by Airbus.

Airbus said that the new satellite will enhance broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps in areas with limited or no terrestrial connectivity throughout Malaysia. It will also provide redundancy and additional capacity for video distribution in HD, 4K and 8K in the Asia-Pacific region.

Key features of the satellite include C and Ku-bands capacity for DTH, video distribution and telecommunication services; a HTS Ka-band mission with multiple user spot beams optimised to deliver high speed broadband communications over Malaysia to bridge the digital divide in the country; and a Q/V band payload, first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, allows MEASAT to study the propagation effects in high rainfall regions like Malaysia.

Head of Telecom Satellites at Airbus Francois Gaullier said: “MEASAT-3d is based on our highly reliable Eurostar satellite platform, including the current E3000 series, with 58 in orbit which have notched up more than 1000 years of successful operations. MEASAT is a key customer for us and we are looking forward to this advanced spacecraft supporting their future business.”