An overview of Japan's Engineering Test Satellite VI (ETS-VI) project

The authors present the main features of the Engineering Test Satellite VI (ETS-VI), the characteristics of the overall system, and the results of system design. ETS-VI is a geostationary satellite, scheduled for launch by the Japanese H-II rocket in the summer of 1992. It is a two-ton-class and three-axis stabilized satellite. The ETS-VI project is intended to establish a satellite bus system to meet the requirements in the field of satellite communications and broadcasting services in the 1990s. It is also intended to demonstrate various advanced satellite communications systems in the future. The authors describe the experimental equipment payload of the ETS-VI.<<ETX>>