Today, India receives over 400 satellite delivered channels for re-distribution by Cable TV. Further, there are 3 DTH platforms and ofcourse Doordarshan's FTA Ku Band platform - DD Direct+. 3 more DTH licenses have been issued and players are readying for launch. The I&B ministry has applications from approximately 90 new channels that want to launch immediately ! All this has made India, the hottest Satellite transponder market in the world. Indian broadcasters can get enough transponders. The most acute shortage is for Ku band DTH transponders capable of beaming over India.
Given this situation, every satellite broadcaster wants to address India.
PROTOSTAR
A new startup satellite company ProtoStar has found this an ideal opportunity to commence operations. ProtoStar, a Bermuda corporation with U.S. operations in San Francisco, California and Asian operations headquartered in Singapore, has been formed to acquire and operate high-power geostationary satellites optimized for DTH satellite television in the Asia-Pacific region.
Infact no sooner did ProtoStar announce that it would be launching a satellite in mid 2008, ISRO booked 6 Ku band transponders on the to-be-launched ProtoStar-1.
Enthused by this market, ProtoStar has even contracted for a second satellite - ProtoStar 2 to be launched in 2009.
THE PROBLEM
Just when everything seemed to be racing ahead for ProtoStar, there was a glitch. China has objected to the launch and commissioning of ProtoStar-1 at its designated Orbital slot of 98.5 deg East. China has issued stern warnings to the Singapore government, to withdraw the launch of ProtoStar-1.
To fully understand the complex situation, lets start at the beginning.
ORBITAL SLOTS
Any satellite company needs a satellite and a spot over the Equator, in Geo-synchronous orbit, to park their satellite.
Parking slots are allotted internationally, by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
However, the ITU only allocates orbital slots to countries, and not to private sector companies. A private company can arrive at an understanding with a country and occupy the country's allocated orbital slot(s).
AsiaSat for example, operates from orbital slots allocated to China.
Start up company has negotiated with the Singapore government for the 98.5 deg Orbital slot, to park its ProtoStar-1 satellite.
MANUFACTURER:Space System/Loral FS1300LAUNCH: Early July 2008LOCATION: 98.5°E.TRANSPONDERS: 36 high power C-band and
16 Ku-Band transponders.
CHINASAT-8
Satellites are expensive, and only a handful of companies manufacture satellites.
Around 1998, China Telecommuni-cations Broadcast Satellite Corporation (Chinasat) contracted Space Systems/Loral for Chinasat 8, - ZX 8 (Zhongxing 8), a high-powered satellite, to provide video, data, and digital voice communications for China. Chinasat is a division of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) of the People's Republic of China, based in Beijing.
With a total on-board satellite power of 11,000 watts, Chinasat 8 was then, the most powerful spacecraft ever purchased by China. It had 16 Ku-band transponders or 125 watts each, and 36 C-band channels of 37 watts each.
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) designed and built Chinasat 8, for launch on a Chinese CZ-3B rocket in mid-1999, but the US export department refused to permit export of the satellite to China, for its launch.
SSL and China had 2 options - launch on an American rocket or sell the satellite to a third party.
The satellite remained mothballed at SSL, till in 2006, a startup company - ProtoStar realised that it could buy and deploy the satellite over the Asia Pacific, and more specifically - Indian sub-continent. in 2006, ProtoStar bought ChinaSat-8 from China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation, and contracted Space Systems/Loral, to tailor the satellite's footprints, for key markets in Asia.
ProtoStar began its search now, for a suitable orbital slot, from where it could service India. the satellite was renamed ProtoStar I, and its launch scheduled on an Ariane rocket, for mid 2008

PROTOSTAR-SINGAPORE
ProtoStar did all that it could to win favour with the Singapore government, since it desperately needed the 98.5 deg slot, allocated to Singapore.
ProtoStar, a Bermuda corporation with U.S. operations in San Francisco, California set up its Asian operations headquartered in Singapore.
Further, ProtoStar sub-contracted ProtoStar-1's satellite control services to the Singapore government's SingTel. SingTel would also sell C band capacity on ProtoStar-1.
CHINA OBJECTS
Opposition to ProtoStar-1's orbital position has come from the same country that has sold its satellite to ProtoStar !
The 98.5 degree slot is immediately adjacent to AsiaSat's 110.5 degree slot from where the AsiaSat-2 operates. Figure -1 shows the various satellites located adjacent to ProtoStar-1 at 98.5 deg East.


AsiaSat 3S 105.0E
AsiaStar 105.0E
AsiaSat 2 100.5E
Express A2 103.0E
KazSat 1 103.0E
PROTOSTAR-1 98.5°E Express AM33 96.5°E

NSS 6 95.0°EInsat 3A and Insat 4B 93.5°E

FREQUENCY COORDINATION
When satellites are located close to each other, their up-link and downlink frequencies and polarisations are to be coordinated, so that there is no interference. Sometimes this requires that existing frequencies or polarisations be altered by existing satellites, to accommodate a new entrant.
The ITU which allocates the orbital slots requires that all players coordinate their frequencies so that there is no disruption of service. The new entrant is obliged to ensure that their transmissions will not disrupt existing services.
Frequency coordination is a technical matter, and not easily resolved, particularly in regions over India, where practically every orbital slot is occupied by one or more satellites.

PROTOSTAR-1 LAUNCH READY
As we go to press, the US$260 million ProtoStar-1 satellite is ready at the Ariane facilities in French Guiana, for launch on 8th July. Its intended orbital slot: 98.5 deg East.
The Ariane rocket will simultaneously launch ProtoStar I & Saudi Arabia's BADR-6 satellite on a heavy lift Ariane 5 rocket.
2008 will be Arianne's busiest year ever, with 12 missions scheduled. On 12 June it launched Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A, in Ariane 5's 25th consecutive successful mission.
Other Ariane 5 flights performed so far in 2008 were the April 18 dual-payload Ariane 5 ECA mission with Star One C2 and VINASAT-1, and the historic launch of an Ariane 5 ES version on March 9 with Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station.
LOOSING CONTRACTS
On 19th June, the Zee group announced that it will be launching its HITS platform from the AsiaSat-4 satellite. Though not formerly declared, the expectation was that Zee would shift both - its Ku band DTH platform, and the to-be-launched C band HITS platform on from ProtoStar-1. Clearly, the Zee group's WWIL wants to play it safe and take on non-controversial transponders for its new HITS platform.
DISH TV TO SHIFT
ProtoStar's 98.5 deg East orbital slot is infact adjacent to the NSS-6 at 95 deg East from where DishTV DTH broadcasts in the Ku band. Taking ProtoStar-1's Ku Band capacity either as additional transponders, or to shift completely to ProtoStar, would be possible options.
ISRO which has booked 216 MHz (6 Transponders of 36 MHz each) Ku band capacity is probably watching developments closely.
ProtoStar-1's launch and subsequent commissioning will certainly enable the early launch of new Indian DTH platforms.
PROTOSTAR 2
While roadblocks have emerged to ProtoStar-1's launch, the company has already awarded a contract for a Boeing 601 HP satellite for providing DTH and broadband Internet throughout Asia. Its launch is scheduled for 2009.

COVERAGE S-BandIndonesiaKu-BandPhilippines /TaiwanKu-BandIndian Sub-ContinentKu-BandIndonesia.
WILL IT SUCCEED
More than a decade ago, PanAmSat was launched as the world's first private sector satellite company. The startup company defied Intelsat and grew its operations to provide the Asian Region with its very popular PAS-4 satellite. PAS-4 introduced the concept of cross polarisation (Horizontal & Vertical) in the region, to enable delivery of 24 C band channels from a single satellite. PanAmSat's slogan then was " Truth & Technology Will Prevail Over Bureaucracy & Bullshit!"
Will ProtoStar emerge as this millennium's PanAmSat