AsiaStar is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 communications satellite

Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...

 which is operated by 1worldspace. It was constructed by Alcatel Space and Matra Marconi Space based on the Eurostar E2000+

Eurostar (spacecraft)

Eurostar is the brand name for a satellite bus made by Astrium which has been used for a series of spacecraft providing telecommunications services in geosynchronous orbit . More than 60 Eurostar satellites have been ordered to date, of which 45 have been successfully launched since October 1990...

 bus design. Launch occurred on 21 March 2000, at 23:28 GMT. The launch was contracted by Arianespace

Arianespace

Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane 5 rocket launcher as part of the Ariane programme....

, and used an Ariane 5G

Ariane 5

Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...

 carrier rocket flying from ELA-3

ELA-3

ELA-3, short for Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3 , is a launch pad and associated facilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guyana. ELA-3 is operated by Arianespace as part of the expendable launch system for Ariane 5 rockets...

 at the Guiana Space Centre. The INSAT-3B

INSAT-3B

INSAT-3B is an Indian communications satellite which was built and is operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation.- Overview :INSAT – 3B is the first of the five ISRO built satellites under INSAT – 3 series to join INSAT system.It is based on the I-2000 satellite bus...

 satellite was launched on the same rocket.

Following its launch and on-orbit testing, it was placed in geostationary orbit

Geostationary orbit

A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...

 at 105° East, from where it provides mobile communications services to Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. It carries three transponders, and has an expected on-orbit lifespan of 12 years.

On 31st December 2009, Worldspace ceased broadcasting on the Asiastar satellite in line with its bankruptcy issues, however as of 30th November 2010 two Free to Air (unencrypted) stations are still available, namely Sai Global Harmony

Sai Global Harmony

Sai Global Harmony is a WorldSpace digital satellite radio channel airing programs by/on Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, India. Programs include, Sai Baba "discourses, bhajans, songs, talks, interviews and plays."A webstream of the same channel is available on...

 and Radio France International