Satellite Networks

Thaicom clear to lease KT Sat capacity due to Thaicom 9 delay

Thaicom clear to lease KT Sat capacity due to Thaicom 9 delay

Satellite operator Thaicom has reportedly received regulatory clearance to lease capacity from KT Sat to temporarily replace its Thaicom 4 satellite due to the delayed delivery of its official successor, Thaicom 9.

According to reports in Bangkok Post and The Nation on Thursday, citing anonymous sources, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) endorsed Thaicom's proposal to use satellite capacity from KT Sat as a stopgap to keep Thaicom 4 customers connected while it awaits the launch of Thaicom 9.

KT Sat’s Koreasat 7 satellite provides Ku-band and Ka-band broadband services to Thailand, while its Koreasat 5A satellite provide Ku and extended Ku-Band services.

Thaicom’s subsidiary Space Tech Innovation Limited (STI) contracted satellite startup Astranis in March 2024 to supply Thaicom 9 as a replacement for Thaicom 4, which was launched in 2005 as IPSTAR 1.

While Thaicom 4 remains operational, its lifespan has already been extended twice since 2022. Thaicom said Thaicom 4 is unlikely to be able to maintain its orbital position at 119.5 degrees East beyond July 31, the reports said.

Astranis said at the start of 2025 that it had signed a contract with SpaceX to launch Thaicom 9, along with five more of its MicroGEO broadband satellites, sometime that year. However, that launch never happened.

Both newspapers reported that Astranis has delayed delivery of Thaicom 9 after discovering "manufacturing issues in the same production batch", which it is now in the process of correcting.

Astranis has yet to provide an updated launch schedule, but Thaicom told the NBTC it is unlikely to happen until at least 2027, the reports said.

Thaicom is also expecting to launch another satellite, Thaicom 10, in 2027. The contract for that satellite went to Europe’s Airbus in 2023.

According to minutes from Thaicom’s AGM earlier this month, Thaicom CEO Patompob “Nile” Suwansiri didn’t mention Astranis during the meeting, but said the company’s contingency plans for satellite project delays include leasing capacity from international providers “to ensure uninterrupted service for customers and to maintain stable revenue levels for the company.”

Astranis’ MicroGEO satellites weigh under 500kg and use software-defined radios that allow different frequencies to be programmed after launch based on customer demand. However, the lifespan of a MicroGEO satellite is around eight years – half the life of a traditional geostationary satellite.



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