30 years ago, Whos Satellite did China Launch?

Chinas First International Commercial Launch Success occurred on April 7th, 1990. You might be surprised who’s satellite China Launched 30 years ago. No, it wasn’t Russia’s, nor Iran… Here is a hint. This satellite had originally been launched by the Space Shuttle and retrieved by another Space Shuttle after a failure that left the satellite useless.

China’s entry into commercial space due to the USA, but we need to start with Westar 6:

The satellite was originally designed by Hughes’ Space and Communications Group. It was one of three Hughes HS-376 model satellites, designated Westar 4, 5 and 6, for Western Union Telegraph Company. Westar-6 deployed from the space shuttle mission STS-41-B on February 3, 1984. Things were going okay until there was a malfunction.

Westar 6 included a strap on a perigee kick motor (Payload Assist Module or “PAM”) to lift the satellite into a higher orbit. The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) PAM-D is a modular upper stage designed that used the Thiokol Star-series solid propellant rocket motors.

The PAM-D would raise the satellite from low Earth orbit to a geostationary transfer orbit had all went according to plan. The PAM-D was a common addition to a satellite launch. Multiple launch vehicles including the Space Shuttle, Delta, and Titan, used the PAM-D.

The Westar 6 satellite destination was a geosynchronous orbit. The satellite entered the wrong orbit when the PAM-D misfired. Unfortunately, the misfire left the satellite stranded in a low orbit which was useless for the original telecommunications design purpose.

Fortunately, NASA was able to develop a rescue operation to retrieve the satellite. The Plan was to use the shuttle and capture it from the improper and inoperable Low Earth Orbit. On November 16, 1984, the STS-51-A mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle retrieved Westar 6. After the successful retrieval, and “For Sale” sign in orbit, the satellite returned to Earth inside the safety of the Space Shuttle cargo bay.

After Westar 6 was retrieved by shuttle astronauts in November 1984, the satellite was refurbished and was sold to the AsiaSat consortium and became AsiaSat 1.

Okay… so I get it AsiaSat 1 was Westar 6… so how did China get it? 

To answer this question, we need to go back in time a little more. In the early 1970s, the bloody Vietnam war diverted attention and resources. NASA had landed a man on the Moon and beaten the USSR in the space race. With the novelty of the Moon landing wearing off combined with the increased tensions from the Vietnam war, public opinion was dwindling on the space program.

NASA had grand plans, but the funding decreased each year. NASA needed to propose what to do next with less funding. NASA proposed building a reusable space plane and build a space station. These developments would make sure a sustained presence of the United States in Orbit as well as hopefully cut the overall cost. The issue was that Nixon told them to choose.

When President Nixon agreed to allow NASA to develop and build the Space Shuttle, the budget depended on a flawed business case. To make the budget work, NASA needed the Space Shuttle to launch both people and cargo. With more missions on a common platform, the expected overall costs for the program would be less. Through the volume consolidation of the government agencies, a lower cost Space Shuttle would meet the needs of the US Military, NASA and the commercial sector.

On paper, the idea was good. Satellites would be launched at a lower cost… but the Space Shuttle design requirements to meet the U.S. Military needs drove added complexity into the Space Shuttle. Design features that were not needed by NASA or commercial launch companies. For example, the Military required a longer cross-range to make sure the shuttle and cargo would not be captured during an aborted launch. These design compromises coupled with budget limitations imposed by the U.S. Government resulted in the Space Shuttle that was much more costly than planned.

In 1986, the unthinkable happened. During a launch, the Space Shuttle Challenger and the crew were lost. The tragic loss of the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 created a growing commercial backlog. NASA had originally wanted to use the Space Shuttle for launching all satellites as well as people into space to leverage the space shuttle as much as possible and lower costs. The reality that the Space Shuttle would be too costly and too risky for delivering satellites into space started to become a reality.

NASA, the military and commercial customers started to look for alternatives to the space shuttle. Based on the growing backlog, and shortcomings of the Space shuttle, U.S. President Ronald Reagan agreed to allow U.S satellites to launch on Chinese rockets. China entered the commercial launch market based on the growing backlog of satellites. Two years after the agreement, China launched its first successful satellite.

April 7, 1990 13:30	Long March 3	F-07	Xichang LA-3	Successful
AsiaSat 1	Geosynchronous transfer	AsiaSat	Communication
First Chinese orbital launch for a foreign customer

China’s first launch was AsiaSat 1.

According to AsiaSat’s website, on the 23rd of January 1989, AsiaSat and China Great Wall Industry Corporation. signed a contract for the launch of AsiaSat 1. China Great Wall Industry Corporation successfully put AsiaSat 1 into the designated orbit 14 months later. China Great Wall Industry Corporation launched the satellite using a Chinese designed and built Long March 3 Rocket. (Long March 3 is also known as 长征三号火箭 / Changzheng 3/ CZ-3/LM-3) All the Long March 3 rockets launched from Launch Area 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The rocket was a 3-stage design and was mostly used to place DFH-2-class communications satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits. The Long March 3 Rockets continued in use until the more powerful Long March 3A replaced them.

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