Thales Alenia Space to build satellite for Inmarsat, Hellas-Sat

Thales Alenia Space has announced that it will construct a telecommunications condominium satellite for Inmarsat and Hellas-Sat. It will provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS).

Dubbed Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3, it will deliver a multi-beam mission in S-band and Ka-band for Inmarsat, and a Ku/Ka-Band mission of 44 Ku and 1 Ka transponders for Hellas-Sat.

The satellite will weigh about 5.9 tonnes at launch and will offer payload power of about 12.3 kW. Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3 will be positioned at 39° East.

According to Thales, the MSS payload will deliver an S-band service across all 28 member states of the European Union (the FSS/BSS coverage zones are Europe, Middle East and Southern Africa).

The Inmarsat S – Europasat payload will offer enhanced mobile services across Europe through a hybrid network, which combines S-Band satellite services with a Complementary Ground Component (CGC) infrastructure. Inmarsat S – Europasat will serve the aviation passenger connectivity services, as well as the safety services for Public Protection & Disaster Relief (PPDR) all over Europe. The Hellas-Sat 3 payload will deliver DTH and Telecom services in its designated coverage areas, maintaining and expanding Hellas-Sat business reach with additional capacities.

The satellite is built on the Spacebus 4000 C4 platform from Thales Alenia Space.

“Thales Alenia Space is delighted to provide the Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3 satellite for Inmarsat and Hellas-Sat. This will be the 79th Spacebus satellite made by Thales Alenia Space and the fourth telecommunications satellite contract announced by the company since the beginning of the year. It will feature a very flexible pan-European Mobile Satellite Service Mission for Inmarsat in the S band, and a powerful Ku-band payload for Hellas-Sat, for telecommunications and TV broadcast services,” said Jean Loïc Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space.

“The culmination of this development agreement for a shared satellite is the result of many months of fruitful joint work by Thales Alenia Space, Inmarsat and Hellas-Sat to determine the best technical and business oriented solution for these two missions”.

This is the 79th Spacebus satellite made by Thales Alenia Space, which is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%).

Inmarsat commented:

“Inmarsat is delighted to work with Thales Alenia Space and Hellas-Sat to create an advanced satellite which will boost in-flight connectivity and the provision of safety services across Europe,” said Rupert Pearce, CEO of Inmarsat. “Thales Alenia Space’s innovative approach and partnership has been a major contribution to the success of S-Band provision in Europe.”

For its part, Hellas-Sat commented:

“This agreement represents the first milestone in fulfilling our commitment to our shareholders to capture additional growth opportunities, especially after the acquisition of Hellas-Sat,” said Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEO of Arabsat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hellas-Sat. “Hellas-Sat 3 also represents our commitment to Hellas-Sat’s existing and loyal customers and partners in protecting, maintaining and expanding their business and continue to establish 39deg E as one of the leading DTH hotspots in Europe.”