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China
to
launch
APTSTAR-7
8
November
2009
China
will
launch
a
French-made
communications
satellite
for
the
Hong
Kong-based
APT
Satellite
Holding
Limited
in
the
first
half
of
2012.
A
contract
for
the
launch
service
was
signed
on
Sunday.
The
satellite,
dubbed
APTSTAR-7
and
made
by
the
Thales
Alenia
Space,
will
be
sent
into
space
by
China's
Long
March
3B/E
carrier
rocket
at
the
Xichang
Satellite
Launch
Center
in
southwestern
China,
according
to a
statement
issued
by
the
China
Great
Wall
Industry
Corporation
(CGWIC),
the
contractor
of
the
launch
on
Sunday.
The
satellite,
with
a
designed
life
span
of
15
years,
will
function
for
the
service
of
live
television
broadcast
and
communications
in
Asia,
the
Middle
East,
Australia
Africa
and
parts
of
the
European
Union.
As
the
only
Chinese
company
engaged
in
international
commercial
satellite
launching
services,
CGWIC,
a
subsidiary
of
the
China
Aerospace
Science
and
Technology
Corporation,
has
launched
36
foreign
satellites.
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