Horizons-3e, also known as IS-H3e, is a high throughput geostationary

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

ordered by

Horizons Satellite Horizons Satellite is a joint venture between Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT Group. Originally formed in 2001, pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between JSAT Corporation and PanAmSat for the launch of Horizons-1, it was renewed for Horizo ...

, a joint venture of Intelsat and

SKY Perfect JSAT Group The SKY Perfect JSAT Group is a Japanese corporate group that claims to be Asia's largest satellite communication and multi-channel pay TV company. It owns the SKY PerfecTV! satellite broadcasting service and the SKY Perfect Well Think content s ...

. The spacecraft is designed and manufactured by

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

on the Boeing-702MP platform. It is the sixth satellite of the Epic^NG service, and covers the Pacific Ocean Region from the 169° East longitude. It has a mixed C band and K_u band and was launched in 25 September 2018 on an Ariane 5 rocket.

Satellite description

Horizons-3e was designed and manufactured by

on the Boeing 702MP

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus- ...

. It has an estimated launch mass of and a design life of more than 15 years. It is powered by two wings, with four panels each, of triple-junction GsAs

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s. The 702MP platform was designed to generate between 6 kW and 12 kW. Its payload is the seventh high throughput Epic^NG deployment. The Epic^NG is characterized by the implementation of frequency reuse thanks to a mix of frequency and polarization in small spot beams. Not only applied to the classical HTS K_a band, but also applying the same technique in K_u band and C band. The Epic^NG series also keep the use of wide beams to offer high throughput and broadcast capabilities in the same satellite.

History

Horizons Satellite was originally an equal share

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

with

PanAmSat The former PanAmSat Corporation founded in 1984 by Reynold (Rene) Anselmo, was a satellite service provider headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It operated a fleet of communications satellites used by the entertainment ind ...

. It ordered its first satellite,

Horizons-1 Horizons-1, also known as Galaxy 13, is a geostationary orbit, geostationary communications satellite operated by Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT (JSAT) which was designed and manufactured by Boeing Satellite Development Center, Boeing on the Boei ...

/ Galaxy 13 from

in middle 2001 and successfully launched it on October 1, 2003. During 2005, PanAmSat was taken over by Intelsat, but the relationship continued and on August 30, 2005, Horizons Satellite ordered a GEOStar-2 based satellite,

Horizons-2 Horizons-2 is a communications satellite owned by Horizons Satellite, a joint venture between SKY Perfect JSAT Group and Intelsat. Its orbital slot is located at 74° west longitude. Launch Horizons-2 was launched from the Guiana Space Centr ...

, which successfully launched on December 21, 2007. In July 2009, Intelsat became the first customer of the Boeing 702MP platform, when it place an order for four spacecraft, Intelsat 21,

Intelsat 22 Intelsat 22, is a communications satellite in geostationary orbit and constructed by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, Boeing Space Systems for the Intelsat, Intelsat Corporation. The satellite was planned to be located at 72° East Longitude o ...

Intelsat 27 Intelsat 27 was an American communications satellite which was to have been operated by Intelsat. Intended as a replacement for Intelsat 805, it was destroyed after the rocket carrying it to orbit fell into the Pacific Ocean 56 seconds after la ...

and the first Epic^NG satellite,

Intelsat 29e Intelsat 29e, also known as IS-29e was a high throughput (HTS) geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Boeing Satellite Development Center on the BSS 702MP satellite bus. It is the first satellite of the EpicNG ser ...

. On June 7, 2012, Intelsat announced the Epic^NG platform. It would improve available bandwidth thanks to the use of frequency reuse and polarization and feature spot and wide beams, enabling high bandwidth and broadcast applications on a backward compatible way. The first two satellites would be Intelsat 29e and Intelsat 33e. On September 4, 2012, Intelsat and Boeing announced that Intelsat 29e, the first Epic^NG satellite, would be made by Boeing on the 702MP platform, completing the 2009 order of four such satellites. In May 2013 Intelsat ordered a further four 702MP-based Epic^NG satellites, Intelsat 32e,

Intelsat 33e Intelsat 33e, also known as IS-33e, is a high throughput (HTS) geostationary communications satellite operated by Intelsat and designed and manufactured by Boeing Space Systems on the BSS 702MP satellite bus. It is the second satellite of the ...

and two as of August 2016 unnamed spacecraft. And in July 2014 a sixth Epic was ordered,

Intelsat 35e Intelsat 35e, also known as IS-35e is an Intelsat high-throughput (HTS) geostationary communications satellite designed and manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems on the Boeing-702MP satellite bus. It was launched on 5 July 2017. It is the ...

. In a deal that took 18 months, on November 4, 2015 Intelsat and JSAT announced their fourth joint satellite, after

and

Intelsat 15 Intelsat 15, also known as IS-15, is a communications satellite owned by Intelsat. Intelsat 15 was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, on a Star-2.4. It is located at 85° E longitude on the geostationary orbit. It was launched from Ba ...

/ JCSAT-85, Horizons-3e. It would be the seventh high throughput satellite in the Intelsat fleet, and complete Intelsat Epic^NG family of satellites by covering the Pacific Ocean Region with C band and K_u band.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2018 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the BSS-702 bus Intelsat satellites Spacecraft launched in 2018 Ariane commercial payloads