{"id":14242,"date":"2017-10-26T20:16:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T12:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/israels-spacecom-books-launch-with-spacex-using-pre-paid-amos-6-credits\/"},"modified":"2017-10-26T20:16:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T12:16:16","slug":"israels-spacecom-books-launch-with-spacex-using-pre-paid-amos-6-credits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/israels-spacecom-books-launch-with-spacex-using-pre-paid-amos-6-credits\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Spacecom books launch with SpaceX using pre-paid Amos 6 credits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Artist\u2019s concept of the Amos 17 satellite. Credit: Boeing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Israeli satellite operator Spacecom has tapped a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver its next geostationary communications satellite to orbit in 2019 using approximately $50 million in credits the company paid SpaceX for a mission last year that ended in an explosion on the launch pad.<\/p>\n

In a Hebrew-language statement released last week, Spacecom said it has selected SpaceX to launch the Amos 17 satellite in the second quarter of 2019. A Falcon 9 rocket, likely with a previously-flown first stage booster, will loft the digital communications craft toward a perch in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator, Spacecom said.<\/p>\n

Spacecom said money paid to SpaceX before last year\u2019s scheduled launch of the Amos 6 satellite will go toward the Amos 17 launch, without the need for any additional payments.<\/p>\n

The Amos 6 satellite was destroyed Sept. 1, 2016, when its Falcon 9 rocket exploded on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral minutes before a pre-flight static fire test. Investigators from SpaceX traced the most likely cause of the accident to the rupture of a high-pressure helium tank in the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage.<\/p>\n

The commercial Israeli-based operator said after the explosion that it would attempt to recoup $50 million the company already paid to SpaceX for the Amos 6 mission, or seek another launch at no additional charge. As is the case with most commercial launch contracts, the final payment from Spacecom to SpaceX was scheduled after the launch.<\/p>\n

The Amos 17 launch is expected to take off from one of SpaceX\u2019s launch pads at Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n

\"\"
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on Sept. 7, 2017. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spacecom selected Boeing last year to build the Amos 17 satellite in a $161 million contract. Based on the Boeing 702 satellite design, Amos 17 will carry an all-digital payload processing system and provide telecom services in Ka-band, Ku-band and C-band over Africa, the Middle East and Europe.<\/p>\n

Amos 17 will be positioned in geostationary orbit along the equator at 17 degrees east longitude for a 19-year mission.<\/p>\n

Spacecom\u2019s following communications satellite, named Amos 8, is planned as a replacement for the Amos 6 spacecraft lost last year. The company said it has secured a contract option to launch Amos 8 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2020.<\/p>\n

The Amos 8 contract, if exercised, would be valued at no more than $62 million, the typical commercial rate for a Falcon 9 launch.<\/p>\n

A manufacturer for Amos 8 has not been selected.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist\u2019s concept of the Amos 17 satellite. Credit: Boeing The Israeli satellite operator Spacecom has tapped a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver its next geostationary communications satellite to orbit in 2019 using approximately $50 million in credits the company paid SpaceX for a mission last year that ended in an explosion on the launch pad. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2562,3143,3144,670,2419,291,479,1672],"class_list":["post-14242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amos-17","tag-amos-6","tag-amos-8","tag-boeing","tag-boeing-702","tag-commercial-space","tag-falcon-9","tag-israel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}