HellasSat-4 wraps build; November launch
July 23, 2018
By Chris Forrester
Lockheed Martin (LM) has finished work on its building of the much-awaited Hellas Sat-4 satellite.
Hellas Sat-4 is a joint enterprise between Arabsat and its subsidiary Hellas Sat and the Saudi Arabian King Abdul Aziz City for Science & Technology. The Saudi payload is dubbed Saudi GeoSat-1.
The craft is the second of two LM serios LM2100 satellites being built for Arabsat in the operator’s 6th Generation programme. The other is Arabsat 6A. Arabsat 6A is due for launch this coming winter aboard a large SpaceX ‘Falcon Heavy’ rocket.
The satellite will provide advanced telecommunications capabilities, including television, internet, telephone and secure military communications to customers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Hellas Sat-4, is a giant craft and the largest commercial satellite built by LM. It was originally expected to be delivered almost a year ago.
Christodoulos Protopapas, the CEO at Hellas Sat visited the Lockheed facility for the final testing. He said the company has informed Arianespace that the satellite should be ready for launch in November from French Guiana. Preparations will now start for moving the satellite to French Guiana for an Arianespace launch.