Advanced Television

SpaceX readies Telesat’s Vantage at Cape Canaveral

July 2, 2018

By Chris Forrester

Canadian satellite operator Telesat’s latest high-throughput satellite (HTS), Telstar 19 Vantage, has arrived at Cape Canaveral from its Maxar/SSL builder.

Maxar/SSL says the Telstar craft is the first of three satellites it will deliver over the next few weeks. The satellite is also the 50th delivered by Space Systems/Loral this decade.

Two more SSL communications satellites are scheduled to ship to SpaceX launch base over the next month including a second HTS for Telesat, Telstar 18 Vantage, and the Merah Putih satellite (previously known as Telkom-4), for Indonesia’s largest telecommunication and network provider, PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

Telstar 19 Vantage is one of a new generation of Telesat spacecraft designed to serve today’s bandwidth intensive applications. It will support a range of services, including advanced broadband connectivity for consumer, enterprise and mobility users across the Americas and Atlantic from its prime orbital location of 63 degrees West, the same location used today by Telesat’s Telstar 14R.

Like all Telesat Vantage satellites, Telstar 19 Vantage combines broad regional beams and powerful HTS spot beams enabling customers to maximize throughput and spectral efficiency while optimizing network performance. Its Ka-band HTS capacity will serve Telesat customers operating in Northern Canada, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic Ocean, and South America. Additional Ku-band HTS spot beams will serve growing South American markets in Brazil and the Andean region. Telstar 19 Vantage will also bring new Ku-band broadbeam capacity over the North Atlantic Ocean enhancing Telesat’s coverage of this important mobility market.

Launch date for Telsat 19 on a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket is scheduled for about July 18th. Telstar 18 should follow about two weeks later (and go to 138 degrees East).

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