Article Posted on : - Oct 21, 2010

The Hylas-1 telecommunications satellite will operate from from geostationary orbit above the Atlantic at 33.5° West. Photo by: ESA/S. Corjava.

PARIS (BNS): The Hylas-1 telecommunication satellite which arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana will soon be sent towards space on an Ariane 5 launcher.

The satellite is now undergoing a final series of health checks before being fuelled, encapsulated within its payload fairing and mated to its Ariane 5 vehicle.

The satellite will be launched on 25 November onboard Ariane flight V198, which will be the fifth of six Ariane 5 launches planned for this year, according to a news report by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The satellite was assembled and tested at ISRO’s facility in Bangalore, India before being flown more than halfway round the world to French Guiana.

While its advanced communications payload was developed in Europe, Hylas-1’s flight-proven I-2K satellite platform was procured by prime contractor EADS Astrium from Antrix Corporation in India, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Hylas-1 is the first satellite to be developed through a public–private partnership between ESA and a commercial satellite operator.

The satellite will provide broadband Internet access to consumers and businesses across Europe as well as supporting a range of conventional telecommunications services.