[01-24-12] After a series of delays that pushed the launch of Spacecom\u2019s<\/b> Amos-5 back to mid-December, the operator announced that the geosynchronous orbit satellite would commence commercial operations Jan. 25<\/p>\n
Amos-5 aims to provide coverage over the Middle East and Europe and serve as a prime carrier of African satellite communications traffic in both broadcast and data services. The satellite is equipped with high-power 14\u00d772 megahertz (MHz) and 4\u00d736 MHz C-band transponders, as well as 18\u00d772 MHz Ku-band transponders.
\n The satellite is Spacecom\u2019s first not to be built by Israel Aerospace Industries<\/b> and couldn\u2019t have come at a better time for the operator. In August 2010, Spacecom projected that its Amos-5i communications satellite, which was previously named AsiaSat 2 until Spacecom contracted the satellite for exclusive use in January 2010, would run out of fuel before Amos-5 replaced the ailing spacecraft.
\n Spacecom was forced to find alternatives for Amos 5i\u2019s telecommunications customers in Africa, which resulted in a $12 million loss in the 2010-2011 timeframe on accelerated depreciation on the satellite and loss of profits. Amos-5i was moved from the 100.5 degrees East orbital slot to 17 degrees East to provide C-band and Ku-band capacity for a variety of satellite communications services to the African continent. The operator reached a deal with the satellite\u2019s manufacturer ISS Reshetnev<\/b> in Russia to collect $13.5 million in late delivery fees, which were then deducted from the $200 million that the operator paid for the satellite\u2019s construction.
\n Spacecom president and CEO David Pollack said Amos-5 represents a significant step in the company\u2019s future pan-African C-band and Ku-band strategy. \u201cAmos-5\u2019s launch further transforms Spacecom into a leading multi-regional satellite operator and is truly a landmark event for us as we prepare to bring our reliable high-quality services to Africa,\u201d said Pollack. \u201cThe satellite will offer excellent coverage and ready capacity to a rapidly growing region. Spacecom is excited and looks forward to providing comprehensive and quality communications solutions to Africa.\u201d
\n Spacecom pre-sold more than 55 percent of Amos-5 capacity to a variety of customers prior to launch, including broadcasters, telecom providers, communications companies and government agencies.
\n In November, Satellite teleport service provider SatLink Communications<\/b> launched a new African Multi-Channel-Per-Carrier (MCPC) platform on Amos-5. SatLink will use Amos-5\u2019s Pan-African C-beam to provide the platform to international and local African broadcasters. The platform will have a Tier 1 broadcast neighborhood including leading European, American and Asian channels.
\n \u201cThe market for Ku-band is growing in Africa because technology has greatly negated rain interference challenges and has also brought down customers\u2019 initial setup costs,\u201d Spacecom Senior Vice President of Sales Eyal Copitt said in a statement.
\n Amos-4 is scheduled to commence operations at the end of 2012. The satellite will be located at the 65-degree West orbital position to extend Spacecom\u2019s coverage reach to Russia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Spacecom plans to launch Amos-6 operations in 2014 to deliver capabilities and capacity to the CEE, CIS and Middle East regions, as well as Western Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[01-24-12] After a series of delays that pushed the launch of Spacecom\u2019s Amos-5 back to mid-December, the operator announced that the geosynchronous orbit satellite would commence commercial operations Jan. 25 Amos-5 aims to provide coverage over the Middle East and Europe and serve as a prime carrier of African satellite communications traffic in both […]<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-83631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83631"}],"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=83631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}