PARIS — Satellite fleet operator Hispasat of Spain has selected Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to build the Ku- and Ka-band Amazonas 5 satellite for broadband and telecommunications services in Latin America in a move that cancels the planned Amazonas 4B satellite that Orbital Sciences Corp. was expected to build.
In a Dec. 5 statement, Madrid-based Hispasat said Amazonas 5, to launch in 2017, would help compensate for the partial loss of capacity on the Amazonas 4A satellite, which was built by Orbital and was launched in March.
Amazonas 4A suffered a power anomaly that is expected to deprive it of up to half its planned broadcast capability.
Hispasat said Amazonas 5 would carry 24 Ku-band transponders for Central and South America and 35 Ka-band beams for eight nations — Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica and Venezuela. The satellite will use Palo Alto, California-based SSL’s 1300 satellite platform and provide 9.8 kilowatts of power to the payload at the end of its 15-year design life.
“Redefining the [Amazonas] 4B mission is just one of the measures Hispasat has taken to minimize any impact of the anomaly detected in the Amazonas 4A power subsystem,” Hispasat said.
