The APSTAR II 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. II was to complement the smaller Hughes-built APSTAR I and be used primarily for television broadcasting. APSTAR II was launched Jan. 26, 1995, on a Long March 2E rocket from Xichang, China, but it was destroyed in an explosion shortly after liftoff.