APSTAR II was a communications satellite based on the Hughes HS-601 spacecraft design, built by Hughes Space and Communications Company, now a subsidiary of Boeing, designed to provide video radio data and telephone services for about 2/3 of the world's population. It was launched on Jan. 26, 1995 by a Long March 2E launcher from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, but was destroyed shortly after liftoff by an explosion. It was commissioned by APT Satellite Company, a Hong-Kong based, Chinese government-sponsored competitor to Asiasat