Thaicom 8

THAICOM 8 is a Thai satellite of the THAICOM series, operated by Thaicom Public Limited Company, a subsidiary of INTOUCH, and is considered to be the 8th THAICOM satellite headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand.

Overview

Manufactured by Orbital ATK, the THAICOM 8 communications satellite will serve Thailand, India, and Africa from the 78.5° East geostationary location. It is equipped with 24 active Ku-band transponders for sending high-definition television signals through the satellite to residential dwellings.

Launch

THAICOM 8 was approved for launch into orbit on 18 March 2014. It was launched at the Cape [Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral] SLC-40 in Florida on 27 May 2016, by SpaceX. The first stage of the Falcon 9 used to launch THAICOM 8 successfully landed on ASDS - Of Course I Still Love You. It was the fourth successful landing of a Falcon 9 Full Thrust.

Reuse of the Falcon 9 First Stage

The B1023 first stage was later converted into a Falcon Heavy side booster, which performed a static fire test in calendar-week 20 of 2017. This first stage then continued to land again at the Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during the Falcon Heavy [test flight|Falcon Heavy maiden test flight].