Article Posted on : - Sep 30, 2010

Hylas-1 during qualification testing at the Compact Antenna Test Facility (CATF) at ISRO's Bangalore satellite centre. Photo by ISRO

PARIS (BNS): Following extensive testing in India, the Hylas-1 telecommunication satellite has been given the green signal for shipping to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana for its November flight.

Hylas, a public-private partnership between ESA and Avanti Communications (UK), will target the high demand for broadband services in Europe that cannot be met by terrestrial networks.

EADS Astrium is the mission prime contractor with the satellite platform coming from Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The satellite assembly and qualification testing was carried out in the Indian city of Bangalore. On September 18, the satellite’s readiness to begin its scheduled launch campaign was assessed.

Senior officials from Avanti, ESA, Astrium and ISRO/Antrix studied the results of Hylas-1’s tests before giving the green light.

The thermal-vacuum testing was carried out in mid-May. The thermal-vacuum test is the most demanding phase of satellite testing. For Hylas, it involved taking the complete satellite between the temperature extremes it will experience in orbit several times over a period of four weeks, ESA said.

A Russian Antonov-124 aircraft will carry Hylas from Bangalore to Kourou in early October, along with all the support equipment. Launch is planned for November on Europe’s Ariane 5 ECA, shared with another telecommunication satellite.