Brazil says it has plans to launch three new satellites over the next decade or so for communications as well as government use. The first of the trio, being built by Thales Alenia, could be in orbit by 2016.

State-backed telecoms provider Telebras’ president Caio Bonilha along with the advisor to Brazil’s defence ministry, Edwin da Costa, said the thinking was to launch a satellite every five years and given that a satellite’s life was typically 15 years, then a fourth craft  would be needed around 2031.

According to Bonilha, the first of the new satellites will have three coverage areas: national, pan-regional as well as “steerable” beams. The craft will also carry a military (X-band) cargo.

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