OREANDA-NEWS. April 7, 2011. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced today that it has completed building the ST-2 communications satellite ordered in December 2008 by a joint venture between Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Company Limited (Chunghwa Telecom). Having departed Kamakura, Japan at the end of March, the satellite arrived on April 5 in French Guiana on an Antonov An-124, one of the world's heaviest fixed-wing aircraft designed to transport oversized cargo. Mitsubishi Electric will now begin launch preparations at Guiana Space Centre.

The ST-2 satellite, built at Mitsubishi Electric's Kamakura Works in Kamakura, Japan, will succeed the ST-1 satellite, which is co-owned by SingTel and Chunghwa Telecom and currently supports their various communications businesses.

Mitsubishi Electric has been a leading manufacturer contributing to space research and development in Japan mainly for Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA), as well as participating in the development of more than 440 international satellites as major subcontractor. ST-2 makes Mitsubishi Electric the first Japanese satellite manufacturer to enter the commercial communications satellite market outside Japan using DS2000, Mitsubishi Electric's satellite bus 
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ST-2 being loaded onto Antonov An-124 at Central Japan International Airport
platform currently with a track record of five satellites in orbit.