The ProtoStar I satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) based on the SS/L 1300 spacecraft design. It was originally built by SS/L as the ChinaSat 8 satellite and scheduled for launch in April 1999 on a Long March 3B rocket. However, the U.S. Department of State blocked its export to China under ITAR regulations. The satellite was placed in storage and sold to ProtoStar in 2006.

On January 5, 2007, SS/L announced that the satellite would be modified to meet ProtoStar's requirements. The fueled satellite weighed 4,100 kilograms (9,000 lb) and will operate in both the Ku band and the C band.

On January 8, 2007, Arianespace announced that ProtoStar had contracted with Arianespace for the launch of ProtoStar I. It was launched aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket on July 7, 2008. Post-launch maneuvering of the satellite was performed successfully on July 8, 2008., and ProtoStar I was placed into its geostationary orbital location of 98.5 degrees East Longitude.

Following the sale of ProtoStar I in the ProtoStar bankruptcy auction, on October 29, 2009, and the completion of the sale with Intelsat, Intelsat renamed the satellite Intelsat 25. Intelsat 25 will serve for African market at 31.5 West orbital location.

Arabsat let a contract on 22 October 2003 for the manufacture and launch of the fourth generation of Arabsat satellites, based on Astrium's Eurostar E2000+ platform and Alcatel Space payload. The first of these, Arabsat-4A, was lost in space due to a launcher failure. This led to the ordering of BADR-6 (technically: Arabsat-4AR) on 31 May 2006. The second fourth-generation satellite, named BADR-4 (technically: Arabsat-4B), was launched on 8 November 2006. BADR-6 was launched on 7 July 2008 on an Ariane 5, to replace the lost Arabsat-4A.