Facebook to supply internet connectivity in Africa via Amos-6 satellite

6 October, 2015

Facebook will build a ground control station in Israel to operate the Amos-6 satellite. For SpaceCom, the agreement with Facebook is worth approximately $95 millions

Facebook will build a ground control station in Israel to operate the Amos-6 satellite. For SpaceCom, the agreement with Facebook is worth approximately $95 millions

AMOS-6

Eutelsat Communications from Paris and Facebook have announced that they are partnering on a new initiative to get more Africans online. Under a multi-year agreement with Spacecom from Israel, the two companies will utilise the entire broadband payload on the future AMOS-6 satellite and will build a dedicated system comprising satellite capacity, gateways and terminals, to reach to large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

During the weekend, Mark Zuckerberg published a post in his private blog about the deal: “We are partnering with Eutelsat to launch a satellite into orbit that will connect millions of people. As part of our collaboration with Eutelsat, a new satellite called AMOS-6 is going to provide internet coverage to large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The AMOS-6 satellite is under construction now and will launch in 2016 into a geostationary orbit that will cover large parts of West, East and Southern Africa. We’re going to work with local partners across these regions to help communities begin accessing internet services provided through satellite”.

Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world’s leading operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 39 satellites to clients that include  coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.

5,500 kg of space knowledge

Artist's image of Amos-6 in space
Artist’s image of Amos-6 in space

Scheduled for launch in the begining of 2016, Spacecom’s AMOS-6 satellite includes 3 Ku-Band beams covering Middle East, Central East Europe (CEE) and Pan-Europe; and 36 HTS Ka-band spot beams over sub-Sahara Africa and Europe. The satellite is currently under construction in the Israel Aerospace Industries, under $200 million contract with SpaceCom.

Yesterday SpaceCom revealed that Facebook will build a ground control station in Israel to operate the satellite. For SpaceCom, the agreement with Facebook is worth approximately $95 millions.

IAI says that Amos-6 is one of the world’s most advanced communication satellites. The satellite consists of electric propulsion technology, which enables significant savings in the satellite’s launch weight and costs. With Amos 6, IAI enters to the field of large communication satellites with launch weight of 5,500 kg and payload power of 9,000 Watts.

The communication payload includes 45 transponders in three frequency bands – Ku, Ka and S, which enable the satellite to provide a variety of communication services, including direct satellite home internet services.

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