Spanish operator Hispasat has chosen Arianespace to launch its new communications satellite, Hispasat 1E. Petra Mateos-Aparicio, Chairman of Hispasat, and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, announced today the signature of the launch service and solutions contract for the Hispasat 1E satellite.
It is the first contract of 2009 signed by Arianespace.
Hispasat 1E will be launched by an Ariane 5 at the end of 2010 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite will be built by Space Systems/Loral using an LS 1300 platform.
Weighing about 5,270 kg at launch, it will be fitted with 53 active Ku-band transponders. This powerful satellite will give Hispasat additional capacity, enabling it to offer a broader range of video and data transmission services with a European and pan-American coverage. Positioned in geostationary orbit at 30 degrees West, Hispasat 1E has a design life of 15 years.
Hispasat 1E will be the sixth Spanish satellite launched by Arianespace. The European launcher had already orbited Hispasat 1A and 1B In 1992 and 1993.
More recently, in 2005 and 2006, the Hispasat group called on Arianespace to launch their XTAR-Eur and Spainsat satellites from HISDESAT. This year Arianespace will launch another of the company's satellites, Amazonas-2.
Commenting on this latest contract, Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said: "We are very proud and honored to be working once again with a customer as prestigious as Hispasat. Being chosen by a major European operator is an outstanding mark of confidence in Arianespace, and clearly reflects the quality and excellence of our launch service and solutions."
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