Sino Satellite Communications was formed in 1994 with Chinese participation from the China Aerospace Corp (CASC), the Commission of Defence Science & Technology (COSTIND), the People's Bank of China, and the Government of Shanghai. Sino Satellite was formed in an effort to overturn ChinaSat's domination (along with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications) of the Chinese satellite communications market.

Aérospatiale built Xinnuo 1 (Sinosat 1) at its facilities in Cannes, with the delivery in November 1997 of the satellite to the customer, the Chinese-German company Euraspace, acting on behalf of Sinosatcom, a Chinese company. This was the fifth satellite using the Spacebus-3000A platform.

It is a powerful three-axis satellite with a liftoff weight of 2,820 kg. Its solar array, spanning 26 meters, supplies over 5 kW to the payload of twenty-four C-band channels (36 MHz) and fourteen Ku-band channels (54 MHz). Three antennas, including two deployable antennas measuring 1.6 and 1.8 meters in diameter, and a 1 m in diameter fixed antenna, cover the targeted zone from an orbital position at 110.5°; East on the geostationary orbit, during a life span exceeding 15 years.