Israel’s AMOS-6 to launch in May
January 26, 2016
By Chris Forrester
Spacecom of Israel’s badly-needed Amos-6 satellite has been confirmed for a May launch.
The satellite, which is due to be co-located with Amos-2 and Amos-3 at the 4 degrees West orbital position. Its target coverage footprint is the whole of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Part of the capacity on the satellite has already been reserved by Eutelsat on behalf of Facebook for broadband connectivity.
An announcement from RR Media’s Middle East Media Centre also confirms that it will managing Internet traffic and digital services for Eutelsat and Facebook and will be able to deliver improved low-cost access to the Internet, social media and communications in Africa from the second half of 2016 onwards.
The launch will be handled by SpaceX who will use one of its Falcon-9 rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Spacecom CEO and president David Pollack, said, “Amos-6 will expand our European coverage throughout all of the continent with a new Pan-European beam and with its High Throughput Ka-band spot beams and the satellite will take us into new markets and provide tremendous services to our clients.“