China's first all-electric communication satellite begins operation

China's first all-electric communication satellite, APSTAR 6E, started operation on Monday, according to China Great Wall Industry, the satellite project's contractor.

Since its launch by a Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in January 2023, the satellite spent 514 days on its journey from a low-Earth orbit, where it was deployed by the rocket, to its preset position in a geosynchronous orbit.

The orbital transfer was realized by its electric propulsion systems, said the company, the overseas trading arm of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

As of Monday, all of the satellite's in-orbit tests had been completed and the results were reviewed and approved by an expert panel convened in Hong Kong on the day, the company said in a news release.

Built by the China Academy of Space Technology, another CASC subsidiary, the APSTAR 6E is the first based on the electrically propelled DFH-3E satellite platform, which is intended for operations in geosynchronous orbit.

A satellite platform is a framework used to assemble a satellite, or satellite system, in accordance with its role and function. It consists of the universal equipment needed by any satellite such as a power source, propulsion and orbital control devices, as well as instruments specifically designed for the satellite in question. This permits easy configuration.

With a liftoff weight of 4.3 metric tons, the APSTAR 6E carries 25 Ku-band transponders and three Ka-band gateway transponders that can provide a combined communication throughput of 30 gigabytes per second, according to Wang Min, the satellite's chief designer.

The satellite is tasked with providing high-throughput broadband communication services to Southeast Asian countries.