Orbital Azerspace/Africasat-1a - Manual

Communications
Mission Description
Under a contract with The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic
of Azerbaijan (the Ministry), Orbital designed and built the Azerspace/Africasat-1a commercial
communications satellite. Based on Orbital’s flight-proven GEOStar-2
™ platform, the hybrid C- and
Ku-band satellite generates approximately five kilowatts of payload power and carries 36 active
transponders. Azerspace/Africasat-1a provides communications services to Azerbaijan, Central Asia,
Europe, and Africa from an orbital location at 46 degrees East Longitude through an arrangement
between the Ministry and Measat of Malaysia, which owns the rights to the orbital slot.
The GEOStar ™ Advantage
Orbital’s highly successful Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) communications satellites are based on
the company’s GEOStar spacecraft platform, which is able to accommodate all types of commercial
communications payloads and is compatible with all major commercial launchers. The company’s
GEOStar product line includes the GEOStar-2 design, which is optimized for smaller satellite missions
that can support up to 5.0 kilowatts of payload power. Orbital has also developed the higher-power
GEOStar-3 spacecraft design, delivering the next increment of payload power for applications between
5.0 and 8.0 kilowatts, allowing Orbital to offer its innovative and reliable satellite design to the
medium-class of communications satellites.
Coverage:
Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Europe and
Africa
Mission:
C- and Ku-band communications
Customer:
Azercosmos OJSCo.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Azerspace/Africasat-1a in Orbital's Dulles,
Virginia satellite manufacturing facility
Azerspace/Africasat-1a
Hybrid C-band and Ku-band Commercial Communications Satellite
GEO