While the news had previously been leaked, the US spacecraft and launch vehicle manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corporation, formally announced that it has been awarded a contract by Avanti Communications Group to build the HYLAS 4 broadband communications satellite. The Hylas 4 spacecraft will use the Orbital Sciences’ GEOStar-3 satellite bus design/platform and will be launched by Arianespace in early 2017.
Avanti Communications sells wholesale data telecoms products to service providers, which use them to create networks for enterprise, carrier, government and consumer users. The HYLAS 4 satellite’s payload will offer Ka-band services delivering up to 28 GHz of capacity in 66 fixed beams positioned over Africa and Europe. HYLAS 4 is designed with four steerable beams that also could serve markets in Latin America or Africa.
