…with COM DEV-built equipment on board. The Echostar XVII and MSG-3 satellites were launched from French Guiana on July 5th on an Ariane 5 rocket, which carried its 9,640kg payload to geostationary orbit nearly 36,000km above the Earth in just 34 minutes.
Michael Pley, CEO of COM DEV, said, “Our U.K.-based division supplied electronics and imaging equipment for a European meteorological satellite, while our international products group provided passive microwave components for a U.S. commercial communications satellite. It’s this range of capabilities that has enabled COM DEV to fly equipment on more spacecraft than any other company in the world.”
EchoStar XVII is a high-throughput Ka-band satellite that will provide broadband internet services to consumers, businesses and government customers across North America. With a total capacity exceeding 100Gbps, the satellite will enable customers to experience faster speeds and the industry’s greatest download capacity. Built by Space Systems/Loral, EchoStar XVII weighed 6,100 kg at launch and will have a solar array wingspan of nearly 40 metres.
MSG-3 (Meteosat Second Generation) will provide meteorologists and weather forecasters with a powerful tool for the detection and prediction of weather-related events. Part of a European family of four geostationary meteorological detection and observation satellites, it will provide highly detailed imagery of Europe, the North Atlantic and Africa. MSG-3 was built by an industry consortium led by Thales Alenia Space, and will be operated by EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites).
