The APStar 2 satellite was designed to serve two-thirds of the world's population - from China, Japan, and Vietnam on the east; to Russia, Eastern Europe, and India on the west; and to Australia on the south. APT Satellite Company, Ltd., of Hong Kong, ordered the high-power Hughes HS 601 spacecraft model in November 1993, as well as satellite control facility equipment and operator training.

APStar 2 was to have provided video services for program distribution and syndication; data services for business applications; and services for video, radio, data, and telephone transmission. The C-band payload, using 52-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), had 26 active and six spare transponders. The Ku-band payload had six active channels (with two spares) powered by 50-watt TWTAs and two high-power channels (with one spare) powered by 120-watt TWTAs.

APStar 2 was designed to generate 4300 Watts with its two solar wings, each carrying four panels of K-4 3/4 solar cells. The APStar 2 configuration included two dual-surface, hexagonal reflectors, each with a diameter of 2.1 meters, located on the east and west sides. A 30-cell nickel-hydrogen battery was included to power the spacecraft during an eclipse. APStar 2 used Hughes' advanced shaped-reflector technology, which concentrates the satellite's beam over targeted land areas while avoiding uninhabited oceans. Hughes' patented, highly efficient design eliminates the need for multiple feedhorn configurations.