ABS-3

ABS-3, formerly ABS-5, which was named Mabuhay 1 or Agila 2 after the Philippine eagle, before being acquired by Asia Broadcast Satellite is a communications satellite launched in 1997. It originally provides telecommunications services for the Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation before being sold to ABS in 2009. It was the first Filipino owned space satellite not acquired while in orbit. Another satellite named Mabuhay, previously known as Palapa B-2P, was acquired from Indonesian company Pasifik Satelit Nusantara a year earlier becoming the first satellite owned by a Filipino entity. Built by Space Systems/Loral, the satellite provides the most powerful coverage in the Asia-Pacific region. It covers the entire continent of Asia east of Pakistan, as well as the Western Pacific west of Hawaii. Its control station is located at the Subic Space Center in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The spacecraft was launched by the Long March 3B in its first successful flight and currently orbits at 146°E longitude.