Successful Launch of Amazonas Satellite

Brazilian company Hispamar’s first satellite, “Amazonas,” was successfully launched on August 4 by International Launch Services’ Protón rocket from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The launching took place, according to the schedule, at 7:34 p.m. (Brasilia time), watched live by 500 people during a ceremony held in the Museum of Modern Art (MAM), in Río de Janeiro.

The satellite is in geostationary orbit at 61 degrees West, right over the Amazon jungle, at a height of 36,000 kilometers, where it will be controlled by the manufacturer until scheduled orbit tests are completed toward the end of September.

The 4.5 ton Amazonas satellite has a service life of 15 years and it will be the first Brazilian satellite capable of transmitting in the C and Ku bands.  With its capacity equivalent to 63 transponders of 36MHz (36 in the Ku band and 27 in the C band), the satellite covers the Americas and part of Europe, guaranteeing the company a commercial presence in Mercosur, the Andean Community, and North America.

The Amazonas will provide data, audio, and video transmission for the broadcast, corporate, fixed and mobile telephony, and high-speed Internet markets.  The satellite’s high capacity and Pan American coverage will contribute significantly to the universalization of broadband Internet access.

Hispamar is a joint venture of the Spanish firm Hispasat and Brazil’s Telemar, formed for the purpose of operating in the communications via satellite sector.

Luiz Perrone
Hispamar