Hispasat is on track to add three satellites to its fleet this year.
Speaking at Hispasat Innovation Days in London, Luisa Fernández Peña, products and services, marketing department, Hispasat, said that Hispasat 36 degrees W-1 was launched on January 28 and will shortly be fully operational.
Covering EMEA and America, its TPX is 17 Ku Band and three spot beam in Ka Band. It is also the first mission of the Small GEO platform, which Peña described as revolutionary, developed by OHB System AG (Germany) with the European Space Agency and Hispasat.
The second satellite to make its debut this year will be 36 degrees W-6. Covering EMEA and Latin America, its TXP will be 40 in Ku Band, 10 in C Band and seven spots in Ka Band. 36 degrees W-6 will be launched in Q4 and serve as a replacement for Hispasat 1D.
The third satellite will be Amazonas 5, located at 61 degrees West and with a TXP of 24 in Ku Band and 25 in Ka Band. It will cover Latin America and will meet the growing demand for capacity for satellite TV platforms in the region.
Meanwhile, in an introduction to Hispasat and its activities, Jose Antonio Guerra, the head of the company’s business office, said that while revenues in the satellite sector have gone down in the last four years, those for Hispasat have increased. This was achieved by focusing on the telco sector, which is not usual in the satellite market.
Guerra added that Hispasat is the 9th largest satellite operator in the world and the fourth in Latin America. Its nine satellites currently occupy six of the seven orbital slots it has available. It distributes a total of 1,250 TV channels and radio stations, including services for major DTH platforms.
Hispasat will have invested over €1 billion between 2012-17, almost half of which (€577 million) will have been between 2015 and this year.