Airbus Defence & Space photo of the closing build process of the Telstar 12 VANTAGE.

[Satnews] Airbus Defence and Space has successfully completed the final integration and testing of the new Telstar 12 VANTAGE satellite for Canadian company Telesat.

Telstar 12 VANTAGE has departed the Airbus Defence and Space facilities in Toulouse, France, and will now be transported to Tanegashima, Japan. The satellite is due to be launched in the coming weeks on an H-IIA launch vehicle built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
 

Based on Airbus Defence and Space’s highly-reliable Eurostar E3000 platform, Telstar 12 VANTAGE is fitted with more than 50 high power amplifiers that will operate in Ku- and Ka-bands over four regional beams and eight spot beams. Telesat’s newest satellite will have a launch mass of 4,800 kg, spacecraft power of 11 kW and more than a 15-year design life. This is the fourth Eurostar E3000-based spacecraft built by Airbus Defence and Space to join Telesat’s fleet.

Telstar 12 VANTAGE will give customers greater flexibility in network design along with improved efficiencies and lower costs per bit, especially over the North Sea and the Mediterranean where the satellite’s high throughput capacity will support the latest mobility services for aero and maritime markets. The satellite will operate at 15 degrees West in geostationary orbit and serve the growing needs of broadcast, corporate, and government users with powerful coverage of the Americas and EMEA regions as well as maritime zones in Europe, the Caribbean and South Atlantic.