Intelsat 30/DLA-1 and Intelsat 31/DLA-2 are high-power, advanced satellites that will provide Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service in Latin America.
A statement from ILS today:
Following the additional verifications of the cables and connectors associated with last night’s issue which resulted in a delay to the Intelsat 31 launch, the problem has been isolated to a connector on the flight vehicle. The ground system was wrongly identified as the cause of today’s delay. The flight connector issue has been resolved and the vehicle cleared for flight.
The Proton launch vehicle and the Intelsat 31 satellite remain in a safe configuration at the launch site awaiting launch. Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and International Launch Services (ILS) plan to make another attempt at 13:10 Baikonour time, tomorrow, June 9. The satellite was built for Intelsat S.A. of Luxembourg by SSL of Palo Alto, California.
The satellites are being built for and will be operated by Intelsat, which will lease a majority of the satellite capacity to DIRECTV Latin America, a leading DTH digital television services operator in Latin America.
Using spot-beam frequency reuse and the industry’s best technologies, the Ku-band payloads will greatly expand DTH entertainment offerings in Latin America and provide backup and restoration services.
The two satellites are designed based on the flight-proven SSL 1300 platform and are contracted to provide service for a minimum of 15 years. Intelsat 30/DLA-1 was launched in Q4 2014, and Intelsat 31/DLA-2 is scheduled for launch in 2015. The satellites will be co-located with Intelsat’s Galaxy 3C satellite at 95 degrees West.
