Under an agreement signed in November 2005, the China Great Wall Industry Corp was
contracted to design, manufacture, test and put into orbit the VENESAT-1
for Venezuela.
The satellite will help Venezuela develop its telecommunications, film and TV
industries, culture and education. The planned telecommunications satellite will blast off
from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Southwest China atop a CZ-3B/G2 rocket. The satellite, designed with a mission
life of 15 years, was constructed by the China Academy of Space Technology, based on
the country's DFH-4 Bus, China's new-generation
telecommunications satellite platform. The satellite is also called the "Simon
Bolivar Satellite," named after the Caracas-born South American independence hero,
the Liberator of Five Republics, according to Tenorio.
The satellite was launched in 2008.
On 13 March 2020 a series of maneuvers left it tumbling in an unusable orbit, with a lowest point 50 km and the highest point 525 km above the geosynchronous arc. Possibly the mishap occured while moving the satellite into a proper graveyard orbit. An issue with the solar arrays has been confirmed.
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