Company sources describe the event as “a new era in satellite communications”, since it will allow high-speed Internet access throughout the American continent, the northern and southern corridors of the Atlantic and as remote points as Greenland and the jungle. amazonian. Among other features, the satellite “is designed to offer high-quality connectivity on planes and ships and will effectively contribute to reducing the digital divide in Latin America in an agile and efficient way.”

The satisfaction of Hispasat and SpaceX, upon verifying that the launch of the carrier rocket works as expected, is also shared by other companies participating in the project. This is the case of the builder Thales Alenia Space (TAS), which has incorporated four Spanish companies into the process: TAS Spain (responsible for the production of the interface unit, multiplexers and filters); Sener (for the manufacture of filters, couplers and reception, transmission, navigation and remote control and telemetry antennas), GMV and Aicox, for control segment systems.

Jordi Hereu, president of Hispasat, acknowledges to elEconomista.es that “the Amazonas Nexus represents an important milestone in the development of the Hispasat project, since it reflects many issues of the strategy that we are carrying out. The Amazonas Nexus allows us to address new markets important and ascending, such as access to air mobility, connectivity with maritime fleets and access to new territories”.

Among other details, Hispasat will be the Greenland telecommunications operator. It is a new generation satellite that allows us greater flexibility because it has the Digital Transparent Processor (DTP) to adapt to new needs in the future. without a doubt, it is much more versatile than previous satellite versions to adapt to the technological changes that occur during its useful life”, he explains minutes before taking off on the flight to Miami (USA).

The financing of the project is valued at 80.7 million dollars from the launch contract, as well as the launch insurance and the initial operations in orbit of the Nexus, the latter granted by EXIM-Bank in the first operation that this entity allocates to the satellite sector since 2015. “Previously, Hispasat had signed the financing for the manufacture of the satellite with BPI France and a pool of four financial entities for an amount of 129 million euros,” they explain from the company.

The profitability of the satellite is guaranteed once, before the launch, it already has 60% of its capacity already commercialized. Among other businesses, the Amazon Nexus will offer “Internet connectivity on planes, which means for passengers to be able to establish video calls on transatlantic flights,” the same sources indicate. It will also provide coverage over the entire American continent, from north to south of the Atlantic and Greenland, and will allow the provision of next-generation telecommunications services linked to broadband connectivity in remote environments and air and maritime mobility. Among the programs that will be launched with the Amazonas Nexus, the Caramuel Project initiative stands out, which will allow Hispasat the first quantum key distribution (QKD) mission through geostationary satellites.

 

24 hour postponement

Uncertainty is part of satellite launches. No matter how much technology exists, it always depends on weather conditions, whose random variability sets the agenda for all projects. Hispasat suffered these contingencies in the early hours of last Sunday to Monday, with a launch due to “adverse weather conditions.” Finally, those responsible for the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) of the Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral (Florida), decided to delay the operation by 24 hours to execute it successfully, without the imponderal weather against it.