Thales Alenia Space-built Europasat, the “Inmarsat S-band / Hellas Sat 3” telecommunication satellite, has been shipped to the Kourou launch pad in French Guyana to be launched by Ariane 5 rocket this June.
This "condominium" satellite for Inmarsat and Hellas Sat will provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS). The payload designed for Inmarsat will deliver an S-band service across all 28 member states of the European Union, plus Norway and Switzerland, while the FSS/BSS Hellas Sat payload will cover Europe, Middle East and Southern Africa.
Artistic rendition of Europasat.
Image is courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.
The Inmarsat S-band payload will offer enhanced mobile services across Europe through an integrated network, which combines S-band satellite services with a LTE (Long Term Evolution)- based ground network covering operated by Inmarsat’s partner Deutsche Telekom. Inmarsat S– band will support Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network, an integrated satellite and ground network that combines the best of both worlds and will offer airline passengers robust, high capacity inflight broadband in a small, light-weight solution.
The Hellas-Sat 3 payload will deliver DTH and telecom services in Europe, Middle East and South Africa, maintaining and expanding Hellas-Sat’s business reach with additional capacities. Built on the Spacebus 4000 C4 platform from Thales Alenia Space, “Inmarsat S-band / Hellas Sat 3“ will deliver a multi-beam mission in S-band as well as a powerful Ku/Ka-band mission of 45 Ku- and 1 Ka- transponders for Hellas-Sat.
The satellite will weigh about 5.8 tons at launch and will offer payload power of about 12.7 kW. The satellite will be positioned at 39° East. “Inmarsat S-band / Hellas Sat 3“ is the fourth satellite from Thales Alenia Space to be shipped to the Guiana Space Center in 2017. Inmarsat S-band/ Hellas-Sat 3 will be the 14th satellite built by Thales Alenia Space to be launched since the beginning of the year,” said Bertrand Maureau, Vice President, Telecommunications Business Line at Thales Alenia Space.
