January 16, 2016 saw the first Belarusian telecommunications satellite BELINTERSAT-1 sent into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. The event also happened to be China's first orbital mission this year. The spacecraft will be operated by the Belarusian

The satellite will fly in a geostationary orbit 51.5 В°E, and it is expected to provide a wide range of telecommunication services, such as satellite TV and radio broadcast, as well as broadband internet access, for at least 15 years. It has been created to ensure advanced satellite services in Europe, Africa and Asia. The spacecraft is an integral part of the National System of Satellite Communication and Broadcast of the Republic of Belarus, which is the largest project in the field of telecommunications ever implemented by this country. The program has been designed to provide telecommunication services for governmental and commercial clients both in Belarus and overseas.

The whole project is a fruit of international cooperation. The Belarusian telecommunication satellite BELINTERSAT-1 has been built by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). It is 2.4 x 2.1 x 3.6 m large and weighs over 5 tons. It is based on CASC's DFH-4 bus, which consists of a propulsion module, service modules and solar arrays, which span 22 meters fully deployed in space. DFH-4 is a large and advanced telecommunication satellite platform of the new generation, keeping high capability in its output power (10,150 W) and outstanding communication capacity. The spacecraft carries 20 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders (of which 34 are 36 MHz- and 4 are 54 MHz-bandwidth) to provide a full set of telecommunication services. The entire payload has been manufactured by Thales Alenia Space. And, as we have already announced, Belinter Media is the exclusive distributor of the BELINTERSAT-1 satellite capacity.

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