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Satnews Daily
January 16th, 2018

Arriving at Cape Canaveral is the SSL-Built Hispasat 30W-6 Satellite for a SpaceX Launch


SSL, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.) has announced that the advanced Hispasat 30W-6 satellite, previously called Hispasat 1F, has arrived at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida — the satellite will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.


Artistic rendition of the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite.
Image is courtesy of SSL.

SSL and Hispasat worked together and the firms included key developments on Hispasat 30W-6, which has the primary mission of providing communications services to Europe and the Americas. The satellite carries a photonics demonstration, which will prove the value of using photonics for data routing within the satellite. In the future, this technology is expected to reduce satellite mass and enhance payload performance. The photonics receiver, provided by DAS Photonics, replaces traditional microwave components with optical, solid-state components that enable greater flexibility and throughput.

Hispasat 30W-6 was designed to provide service for television, broadband, corporate networks and other telecommunications applications. The satellite will replace Hispasat 30W-4 at 30 degrees West longitude where service to Europe, North Africa, and the Americas will be provided.

Dario Zamarian, the group president at SSL, said that with Hispasat 30W-6 now at launch base, the company is helping to drive the industry forward with innovations that will help reduce mass and improve performance, resulting in a better business case for satellite communications.

Carlos Espinós, CEO at HISPASAT, noted that Hispasat 30W-6 is the fourth satellite that SSL has provided to the company. SSL has been a flexible and reliable partner in working with HISPASAT on technological advances that make satellite communications more cost effective and enable next-generation space systems and missions.