Mission type | Communication |
---|---|
Operator | SKY Perfect JSAT Group |
COSPAR ID | 2009-044A |
SATCAT no. | 35755 |
Mission duration | 15 years |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | A2100AXS |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
Launch mass | 4,000 kilograms (8,800 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21 August 2009, 22:09 | UTC
Rocket | Ariane 5ECA |
Launch site | Kourou ELA-3 |
Contractor | Arianespace |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Geostationary |
Perigee | 35,787 kilometres (22,237 mi) |
Apogee | 35,798 kilometres (22,244 mi) |
Inclination | 0.04 degrees |
Period | 1436.11 minutes |
Epoch | 24 January 2015, 13:19:57 UTC |
|
JCSAT-RA, previously known as JCSAT-12, is a Japanese geostationary communications satellite, which is operated by SKY Perfect JSAT Group.
It was ordered to replace the JCSAT-11 satellite which was lost in a launch failure on a Proton-M/Briz-M rocket in 2007, and is currently used as an on-orbit spare satellite; a role in which it replaced the older JCSAT-R spacecraft, providing a reserve for if one of the company's other satellites fails. It is a 4,000-kilogram (8,800 lb) satellite, which was constructed by Lockheed Martin based on the A2100AX satellite bus, with the same configuration as JCSAT-10 and JCSAT-11. The contract to build JCSAT-12 was awarded on 6 September 2007, the day after JCSAT-11 failed to reach orbit.
It was launched, along with the Australian Optus D3 satellite, by Arianespace. An Ariane 5ECA rocket was used for the launch, which occurred from ELA-3 at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch took place at 22:09 GMT on 21 August 2009, at the start of a 60-minute launch window.
JCSAT-12 separated from its carrier rocket into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from which raise itself to geostationary orbit using a LEROS-1C apogee motor. It has a design life of fifteen years, and carries forty two transponders; twelve G/H band, and thirty J band (US IEEE C and Ku bands respectively).