On 18 March Arianespace announced a launch services contract with the commercial satelilte operator Intelsat S.A., for the launch of three satellites through 2017. Weighing more than six tons each at launch, the satellites will be placed into GTO by the Ariane 5 ECA from Europe’s Space Port in French Guiana. The three missions will include the launches of Intelsat’s previously announced, high throughput EpicNG-class satellites. Intelsat EpicNG is designed to address wireless and fixed telecommunications, enterprise, mobility, video and government applications that require broadband infrastructure.
