The September 1^st explosion of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket also destroyed the Amos-6 satellite which was sat on top of the rocket. As well as losing the valuable satellite, the catastrophe has also placed at risk a potential sale of Spacecom, which owns the Amos fleet of satellites.

Amos-6 was Israel’s most sophisticated communications satellite with 39 Ku-band transponders and a further 24 high-capacity Ka-band spot-beams. Indeed, Amos-6 was larger than the existing Amos-2 and Amos-3 satellites already in orbit.

Spacecom’s Jacob Keret (SVP/sales & marketing) has confirmed that the operator is exploring the emergency lease of an existing in-orbit satellite to fill the gap at 4 degrees West, and to use the rented satellite as an interim measure for the time being while Spacecom orders and builds a replacement satellite, likely to take 2-3 years.

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Categories: Articles, DTH/Satellite