Thaicom asks ITU for more time to launch
October 27, 2026

By Chris Forrester



Thaicom is claiming force majeure in its request to the International telecommunications Union (ITU) to grant more time for the launch of its Thaicom 9 satellite.

Thaicom says an incident in March at the satellite’s builder Astranis was beyond Thaicom’s control. The satellite is one of five being built by Astranis and scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket. A power-system anomaly was discovered on all of the satellites, hence the delay.


Thaicom is asking the ITU to permit a delay until September 30th 2027.

The ITU’s important Radio Regulations Board (RRB), at its July meeting, asked Thaicom for more information regarding the problems. The launch had originally been slated for April this year.

Astranis, in its letter to the ITU in support of Thaicom’s request, said: “Thaicom 9 remains in active production and based on the current programme schedule is planned for launch in Q1 2027. Based on the current mission plan, Astranis expects the satellite to arrive at the 199.5 East orbital position and be operational within Q3 2027.”

The RRB is due to meet this week in Geneva.