UK: SSL has announced that the advanced high throughput satellite built for Telesat, a leading global satellite operator, is successfully performing post-launch maneuvers according to plan. The SSL-built satellite deployed its solar arrays on schedule following its launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida early Sunday morning. It began firing its main thruster earlier today to propel toward its final geostationary orbit.
Telstar 19 VANTAGE packs exceptional performance onto a single spacecraft with multiple payloads that provide high-speed internet service to populations in both North and South America. It is the latest in a new generation of satellites for Telesat that combine broad regional beams and powerful spot beams in a design optimized to deliver fast and reliable service for bandwidth-intensive applications that power the new space economy.
“I would like to thank our long-term colleagues at Telesat for their continued confidence in SSL and for our close collaborative working relationship that always results in superior performance and value,” said Dario Zamarian, Group President of SSL. “Telstar 19 VANTAGE represents an important milestone for SSL as our 50th communications satellite to launch this decade, and it also underscores our success in providing exceptional high throughput capacity for targeted regions of the world.”
When it reaches its orbital slot at 63 degrees West longitude, the satellite will provide service in Northern Canada, South America, the Caribbean, and the North Atlantic. Its unique design maximizes throughput and spectral efficiency and optimizes network performance for Telesat’s customers. SSL incorporated multiple technical advances into Telstar 19 VANTAGE including 3D printing which helps to reduce mass and enables better design solutions.
“SSL has been a valued partner to Telesat for many years and we congratulate them on achieving 50-built GEO satellites since 2010 and on their technology advances that drive our industry forward,” said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO, Telesat. “We’re pleased that Telstar 19 VANTAGE is now heading toward its orbital slot at 63 degrees West and that Telesat will soon be providing high performing capacity on our newest satellite to Hughes in South America, to Bell Canada subsidiary Northwestel over Northern Canada, and to our customers across the Americas and Atlantic who require the very latest in satellite broadband.”
Telstar 19 VANTAGE is based on the powerful SSL 1300 platform, which provides flexibility for a broad range of applications and technology advances. Telesat’s newest satellite is designed for 15 or more years of service and will be co-located with Telesat’s Telstar 14R.
SSL is also building Telstar 18 VANTAGE for Telesat, which is scheduled to launch next month to 138 degrees East. The third Telstar VANTAGE satellite in Telesat’s global fleet, it will combine broad regional beams with powerful HTS spot beams to bring a new level of broadband performance for customers across the Asia Pacific region
