SS/L delivers Hispasat Amazonas 3 Ka-band satellite early

Satellite manufactuer Space Systems/Loral (SSL) reported the successful shipment of Amazonas 3, the multi-mission Ka-band satellite it designed and built for Hispasat, to the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Amazonas 3 carries a payload of 9 Ka-band spot beam, 33 Ku-band transponders, and 19 of the legacy C-band transponders. Completed and delivered ahead of schedule by SS/L, it is set for launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket for service in the 61 degrees West longitude orbital slot.

The SS/L-built satellite will deploy the first Ka-band payload in Latin America that is dedicated to broadband service. Amazonas 3 will deliver satellite broadband, corporate fixed and mobile telephone networks, direct-to-home (DTH)&nbsp television, and numerous other telecommunications services through the Americas as well as Europe and North Africa.

Hispasat commissioned Amazonas 3 from SS/L to serve as the primary bridge of communications between the American and European continents. The broadband payload of the Ka-band satellite promises to trigger innovation and growth across Latin America once it enters operation. 

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SS/L-partnered satellite broadband service provider taps Kratos carrier monitors for support

A Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) customer procured a multi-million dollar order from the SAT Corporation subsidiary of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. order for Kratos' Monics carrier monitoring system and related products. The anonymous SS/L customer is a Ka-band satellite services provider that aims to bring satellite broadband communications services to remote areas in the region.

The industry's leading Radio Frequency (RF) monitoring system, Monics provides automatic carrier monitoring and advanced interference detection and analysis capabilities. The Karos-developed carrier monitoring system will be implemented into SAT's new SAT-DSP-6000 instrument, which uses advanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology to measure entire transponders faster. The combination of the Monics solution and the DSP-6000 instrument will allow the latter to perform multi-beam monitoring of the next-generation Ka-band satellite constellation operated by SSL's customer.

And to make sure that the SS/L's customer's multi-beam satellites will maximize their performance, SAT will activate Monics' In-service In Orbit Test (IS-IOT) feature. IS-IOT uses advanced measurement techniques to characterize transponders in terms of gain, frequency response, and phase. Best of all, IS-IOT can perform its tasks when the transponder is active. That makes IS-IOT the industry's only true in-service IOT solution, as it can analyze network data stream analysis or characterize transponder performance without forcing the transponder to shut down first, which would negatively affect revenue-generating traffic.

The scalability and flexibility inherent to the Monics carrier monitoring solution will allow the SS/L customer to operate a fully-distributed, autonomous system that monitors payload traffic and RF interference. It allows for quick response if the customer's satellite broadband services suddenly act up due to, say, co-channel interference or similar disruptions.

In addition, SAT will also provide the SS/L customer with the satellite antennas, trailer-mounted systems, and flyaway systems to set up and operate 21 monitoring stations. These transportable stations can keep an eye on the customer's Ka-band satellite fleet from anywhere in the service provider's service area.