Advanced Television

ViaSat & Eutelsat launches set for June 1

April 27, 2017

By Chris Forrester

Arianespace is firmly getting back to work, and says that a much-delayed launch of a two satellites for ViaSat and Eutelsat, will go ahead on June 1st.  The pair had initially been scheduled for launch this week, on April 25th, but the date had slipped because of region-wide strike in French Guiana which shut the spaceport for a month.

ViaSat-2 and Eutelsat-172b will be launched by Arianespace, but the delay means that potential subscribers to ViaSat’s expanded satellite-delivered broadband will not see much action until later this year.

And the satellite is needed. ViaSat-1, launched back in 2011, is full and enjoys some 700,000 residential broadband subscribers. The satellite also provides Direct-To-Seat connectivity to airline passengers on JetBlue, American Airlines and others.

ViaSat-2 will have double the capacity of ViaSat-1, and is promising higher download speeds and improved data caps. Its satellite footprint also embraces more of the USA plus Mexico, the Caribbean and other part of South America.

Eutelsat-172b is going to its Asia-Pacific location where one of its confirmed clients is Panasonic Avionics for its in-flight entertainment service.

ViaSat is also involved in a joint-venture with Paris-based Eutelsat targeting private users and businesses in Europe.

Categories: Articles, DTH/Satellite