The new Amazonas 3 will integrate technology from RYMSA, Mier, Thales and Indra, among others

The Amazonas 3 satellite, from the Hispasat group, has entered the final stretch of its construction. It will be launched into space early next year from the Kourou space base (French Guiana) and will become the first satellite to operate in Ka band in Latin America. From the 61º West orbital position, the satellite will offer coverage throughout the American continent, Europe and North Africa during its more than 15-year useful life.

The Amazonas 3 telecommunications satellite, scheduled to launch early next year from Kourou (French Guiana), is in the final stretch of its construction process at the Space Systems/Loral facilities in Palo Alto, California. After more than two years since the beginning of the program, the new satellite, which will be the tenth Hispasat put into orbit, it has already completed its main integration phase, as well as most of the functional tests, during which it is being subjected to the extreme conditions that it will endure in space.

El Amazonas 3 ha superado con éxito las pruebas que se han venido realizando con el objetivo de comprobar que el satélite será capaz de operar correctamente en su órbita geostacionaria a 36.000 kilómetros de la Tierra. Ha sido sometido a pruebas de vacío térmico, para comprobar que podrá funcionar a temperaturas exteriores que pueden oscilar entre los -170º C y los 125º C, así como a pruebas de vibración mecánica, que han confirmado que el satélite está preparado para sobrevivir al lanzamiento. Todos los subsistemas de la plataforma y carga útil del satélite se han verificado de manera exhaustiva. Cuando se haya completado todo el proceso de pruebas, el Amazonas 3 se enviará a la Guayana Francesa para lanzarlo al espacio a bordo de un Ariane 5 ECA a principios de 2013.

The satellite, manufactured from the Space Systems/Loral LS1300 platform, has a launch mass of 6.2 tons, more than 26 meters in wingspan and 8 meters in height, six antennas (four deployable), a horn for the transmission of telemetry and ground-based pointing beacon signals, and a power of more than 14 kW at the end of its useful life.

From the 61º West orbital position, the satellite will offer coverage throughout the American continent, Europe and North Africa during its more than 15-year useful life. It has 52 simultaneous transponders in the Ku and C bands, as well as several beams in the Ka band, making it the first satellite to operate in this band in Latin America. The innovative Ka-band loading of Amazonas 3 positions Hispasat as the first operator in Latin America that can offer interactive services and multimedia applications via satellite to a large number of users, which will allow access to them to be extended to a majority of the population.

In this way, the Amazonas 3 satellite, in addition to providing continuity to the services currently provided by Hispasat from the orbital position of 61º West, will contribute to universalizing Internet access in the region, which represents an important leap towards reducing the digital divide in Latin America.

In addition, Amazonas 3 will offer other services via satellite, such as the broadcasting of television platforms, the deployment of corporate fixed and mobile telephone networks or tele-teaching and tele-medicine, broadband without geographical limitations or comprehensive communication solutions for telecommunications operators.

Technology 'made in Spain'

In accordance with its role as the driving force of the Spanish aerospace industry, the Hispasat group has had the important participation of several Spanish companies for the construction of Amazonas 3 such as RYMSA (RF filters, hybrids, couplers and RF adapters in Ku, C and Ka bands), Mier (power dividers), Thales Alenia Space Spain (beacon transmitter, IMUX in Ku and C bands and telemetry transmitters in Ku band), EADS CASA (Ku band antennas -2 deployable and 2 fixed- and Ka -deployable-), GMV (satellite control systems from the ground and orbital dynamics), Indra (Ground satellite control segment) and INSA (control station in the Canary Islands).