Echostar awarded a new contract to Arianespace to launch multiple new satellites over a multi-year period from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. Echostar expressed confindence in relying on the Ariane 5 rocket to deliver on-time success for its near term expansion programs. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“EchoStar’s renewed confidence in Arianespace is extremely gratifying to us. This launch contract allows us to play a role in the expansion of EchoStar’s broadcast and data revolution. Our dedication to quality gives customers like EchoStar a solid foundation for innovation and growth,” said Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace.
In 2012, Arianespace performed eight successful launches at the CSG: six Ariane 5, one Soyuz and one Vega. Starsem, its European-Russian subsidiary, has also carried out a launch of Soyuz from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The company has a Soyuz launch plus another Ariane 5 launch at CSG before the end of the year.
http://www.arianespace.com/news-press-release/2012/11-26-2012-EchoStar-launch-contract.asp
http://www.echostar.com
EchoStar XVII is an all Ka-band, broadband satellite designed to provide well in excess of 100 Gbps capacity to HughesNet across North America. Its multi-spot beam architecture will expand coverage and focus capacity on the areas with the highest traffic demand. It uses the Space Systems/Loral satellite bus.
