Arabsat 6A satellite, the last of the company’s sixth generation satellites, was successfully launched on Space X’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, on April 12 at 22.35 GMT from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA. The Arabsat-6A satellite has been manufactured by Lockheed Martin and will be placed in the exclusive orbit of Arabsat 30.5 degrees East.
Built on Lockheed Martin’s enhanced LM 2100 platform, Arabsat 6A includes several innovations that provide advanced Kaspot beam communications services and Ku and Ka-band coverages in addition to other frequency bands.
Speaking about the launch from the Cape Canaveral air force base, Khaled bin Ahmed Balkheyour, President & CEO of Arabsat said: “We are thankful for the successful launch of the 6A satellite as it was challenging for us and SpaceX because it is the first largest and heaviest satellite lifted by SpaceX on the most powerful rocket in operation today. Falcon Heavy was designed specifically to launch such a load commercially. That is why this launch is considered a momentous leap in the field of commercial satellites manufacturing and launching.
“Arabsat 6A is a high-capacity telecommunications satellite that will deliver television, radio, Internet, and mobile communications to customers in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Arabsat 6A is the largest and most powerful commercial satellite Lockheed martin has ever produced. The modernised LM 2100 includes several innovations that make the satellite more powerful, more flexible and more versatile in orbit. Arabsat 6A provides advanced Ka-spot beam communications services and Ku and Ka-band coverages in addition to other frequency bands. It will be located at Arabsat’s exclusive orbital position 30.5 , supporting Arabsat competitiveness, as the first satellite operator in the region, in respect to its capabilities and satellite broadcasting services,” added Balkheyour.
“Arabsat success during the past two months, the launch of HS4 satellite at 39 degrees East for Hellas Sat, Arabsat’s subsidiary, last February and this success today, could not have been possible without the help of the young Arab engineers from Arabsat’s HQ and its two ground stations in Riyadh and Tunisia, from where these satellites are operated and controlled. We are thankful to those young engineers, who were fully involved in the design of these satellites and the supervision of the manufacturing stages.”
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