Everything ready for the launch of Amazonas 2

The new Hispasat satellite is already at the Kourou base, in French Guiana, from where it will be launched at the end of the month. With an investment of more than 200 million euros, Amazonas 2 doubles the capacity in America and strengthens the presence of the Spanish operator on this continent.

Hispasat already has everything ready for the launch of its new Amazonas 2 satellite, scheduled for the end of this month of September, with which it will increase the capacity and operational flexibility of its satellite system, consolidating itself as the reference operator in the Spanish and Portuguese markets.

The Amazonas 2 satellite has been successfully transported on a special aircraft, Antonov AN-124, to the European Space Agency launch base located in Kourou, French Guiana. Its transfer was carried out after having passed all the resistance and performance tests to which it was subjected, once its manufacturing process was completed at the EADS Astrium factory in Toulouse (France).

After its arrival at the Guiana Space Center, the final functional verifications are being carried out to proceed with filling the fuel tanks and completing their configuration. For its part, the launch vehicle, an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, is also undergoing different tests that will lead to the process of combined operations between the satellite and the launcher. These operations consist of docking Amazonas 2 to the launch vehicle, incorporating the co-passenger that will be launched alongside the Hispasat satellite, and closing the cowling.

The Amazonas 2 begins its transfer from the EADS Astrium facilities in Toulouse.

Innovation and advanced technology

Amazonas 2 is equipped with the most modern technology. Its coverage over the entire American continent, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, and its 64 transponders, 54 in Ku band and 10 in C band, make Amazonas 2 an ideal satellite to meet the new telecommunications demands of Hispasar clients and offer a wide range of services both in the field of the traditional business of leasing space capacity, and in that related to projects linked to technological innovation.

In the development of this project, Hispasat has invested more than two hundred million euros, coming from the cash flows generated by the business and the syndicated loan signed in 2007 with thirteen financial entities, which has allowed said investment to be made without recourse to the shareholder.