Echostar awarded a new contract to Arianespace to launch multiple new satellites over a multi-year period from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. Echostar expressed confindence in relying on the Ariane 5 rocket to deliver on-time success for its near term expansion programs. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“EchoStar’s renewed confidence in Arianespace is extremely gratifying to us. This launch contract allows us to play a role in the expansion of EchoStar’s broadcast and data revolution. Our dedication to quality gives customers like EchoStar a solid foundation for innovation and growth,” said Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace.
In 2012, Arianespace performed eight successful launches at the CSG: six Ariane 5, one Soyuz and one Vega. Starsem, its European-Russian subsidiary, has also carried out a launch of Soyuz from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The company has a Soyuz launch plus another Ariane 5 launch at CSG before the end of the year.
http://www.arianespace.com/news-press-release/2012/11-26-2012-EchoStar-launch-contract.asp
In July 2012, EchoStar XVII, which is one of the highest capacity satellites ever built, was successfully launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
EchoStar XVII is an all Ka-band, broadband satellite designed to provide well in excess of 100 Gbps capacity to HughesNet across North America. Its multi-spot beam architecture will expand coverage and focus capacity on the areas with the highest traffic demand. It uses the Space Systems/Loral satellite bus.
In October 2012, Hughes Network Systems activated its new HughesNet Gen4 satellite Internet service. HughesNet Gen4 delivers downlink speeds of up to 15 Mbps, depending on the plan. Pricing starts at $49.99 per month for 10 Mbps downlink with a 10 GB cap for a 24 month term , plus $9.99 per month to lease the equipment.
