Advanced Television

Amazonas 1 sent to graveyard orbit

June 23, 2017

Spanish satellite communications operator HISPASAT has completed the re-orbiting process of the Amazonas 1 satellite. This process, which began June 19th, ended on June 23rd after the transmission of the last command from the HISPASAT Satellite Control Centre in Arganda del Rey, through which the passivation of the satellite was completed after having efficiently provided communications services throughout its useful life, despite experiencing fuel leakage in a nitrogen tetroxide tank shortly after its launch.

The Amazonas 1 satellite was launched on August 5th 2004 at Baikonur, aboard the ILS Proton M-Breeze M rocket. Built by EADS Astrium, currently Airbus, it was the first satellite located at the Brazilian 61º West orbital position. In 2014, thanks to an agreement with Intelsat, the satellite was relocated to the 55.5º West position. Throughout its lifetime, Amazonas 1 has made more than 25,000 transmissions from 19 different countries, 613 manoeuvres in orbit, and has borne witness to 1,170 eclipses of the Earth and 29 of the moon.

Amazonas 1 was the cornerstone of the company’s the geographic expansion into Latin American markets. This satellite, with transatlantic and Pan-American capacities, has provided coverage for the entire American continent, Europe and North Africa. Based on the Eurostar 3000 platform, its main services included the distribution of television channels both in Europe and America, as well as providing other telecommunications solutions such as corporate networks or broadband applications, among others.

Antonio Abad, Technical and Operations Director at HISPASAT, emphasised that the “Amazonas 1 satellite was very special for Hispasat because it was the company’s first step towards internationalisation. The satellite initially experienced a fuel leak that called into question its future operation. In spite of this setback, Amazonas 1 was able to fulfil most of its useful life, which was unimaginable after a failure of this kind. This shows that it was a robust and reliable satellite, in line with the quality we always associate with Airbus, in collaboration with the Spanish industry, which also participated in its development”.

Meanwhile, Arnaud de Rosnay, SVP Satellite Telecommunications at Airbus, stated: “We are proud to be industrial partners of HISPASAT since its inception, and we thank them for their confidence, which has allowed us to contribute to their numerous achievements. Amazonas 1 begins a well deserved retirement and its replacement is ready, specifically, thanks to Amazonas 2, also built by Airbus, offering increased capacity at one of the main orbital positions of our distinguished client HISPASAT”.

Categories: Articles, DTH/Satellite