Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) was established to meet the growing demands of broadcast and telecommunications operators in the Indian Ocean Region. In September 2006, ABS founders Thomas Choi and Gregg Daffner with major shareholder Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI), and the financial backing of Asia Debt Management (ADM) successfully acquired the Lockheed Martin Intersputnik (LMI) satellite operator from Lockheed Martin. Since the acquisition, the LMI company has been renamed Asia Broadcast Satellite Limited (ABS) and the LMI-1 satellite has been renamed ABS-1 satellite.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, ABS serves a global customer base with representatives in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Led by a management team of talented and experienced professionals, ABS offers a complete range of services including Direct to Home (DTH) and Cable TV distribution (CATV), as well as International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC), IP backbone, GSM backhaul, Maritime and VSAT services.
The ABS-1 satellite is a high-powered Lockheed Martin A2100 AX spacecraft that was launched in September 1999, on a Proton launch vehicle from Baikonur, Russia. With more than 17 years of on-board fuel remaining, the ABS-1 satellite is located in the prime orbital slot of 75 °E in the Indian Ocean Region. In this unique location, ABS connects Asia, Australia, the Indian Subcontinent, CIS, Middle East, Europe and Africa. The comprehensive footprint of the ABS-1 offers unparalleled coverage in the Indian Ocean Region. The satellite has a total of 44 transponders: 16 Ku-band and 28 C-band.