Spanish operator Hispasat has chosen Arianespace to launch its new Amazonas-3 telecommunications satellite. Petra Mateos-Aparicio, Chairwoman of Hispasat, Carlos Espinos, CEO of Hispasat, and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, signed the Service and Solutions contract for the Amazonas-3 satellite in Santander, Spain.
Amazonas-3 will be launched by an Ariane 5 rocket at the end of 2012 or in early 2013 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It will replace the Amazonas-1 satellite at the same orbital position of 61 degrees West.
Amazonas-3 will be built by Space Systems/Loral using an SS/L 1300 platform. It will weigh about 6,000 kg at launch and will be equipped with 33 Ku-band transponders, 19 C-band transponders, and 9 Ka-band broadband spotbeams. This powerful satellite will provide a wide range of telecommunications services and broadband connectivity in the Americas and Europe. Amazonas-3 will have a design life of 15 years.
Teaming up with a prestigious customer
Amazonas-3 will be the seventh Spanish satellite launched by Arianespace. The European launcher first orbited the Hispasat 1A and 1B satellites in 1992 and 1993. Hispasat and its subsidiary Hisdesat called on Arianespace in 2005 and 2006 to launch the XTAR-Eur and Spainsat satellites. Most recently, Arianespace launched the Amazonas-2 and Hispasat 1E satellites in 2009 and 2010.
After signing the new contract, Petra Mateos-Aparicio, Chairwoman of Hispasat group said " With this new satellite thousands of citizens on the American continent will be able to access a wide variety of advanced broadband services, such as high speed Internet and interactive services in order to meet the growing demand of the Information Society in this region, regardless of the geographical situation, which through land lines would be very difficult to develop.
"Since the launch of our first satellite in 1992, Hispasat and Arianespace have maintained a very strong relationship of mutual trust. We chose Arianespace because the launch of Amazonas-3 is a key to our growth strategy in the Americas."
"We are extremely proud and honored to be teaming up once again with a prestigious operator such as Hispasat. The selection of Arianespace by a leading European operator to orbit their new satellite is an outstanding sign of trust, and clear recognition of the excellence of our launch Service and Solutions," said Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall.
