AMOS-6 was an Israeli

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

, one of the Spacecom

AMOS Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

series, that was built by

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI; ), is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 14,000 employees as of 2021. IAI is state-owned by the government ...

(IAI), a defense and aerospace company. AMOS-6 was intended to be launched on flight 29 of a

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...

geostationary transfer orbit In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...

(GTO) on 3 September 2016. On 1 September 2016, during the run-up to a

static fire Launch vehicle system tests assess the readiness of a launch system to safely reach orbit. Launch vehicles undergo system tests before they launch. Wet dress rehearsals (WDR) and more extensive static fire tests prepare fully assembled launch veh ...

test, there was an anomaly on the launch pad, resulting in an explosion and the loss of the vehicle and AMOS-6. There were no injuries.

Terminology

AMOS stands for "Affordable Modular Optimized Satellite" and is also an allusion to the prophet Amos. This spacecraft is the second implementation of the AMOS-4000

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 less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

, the first was the

AMOS-4 AMOS-4 is an Israeli commercial communications satellite, operated by Spacecom Satellite Communications, Tel Aviv-based, part of the AMOS series of satellites. History Spacecom, the AMOS satellites operator, announced in 2007 that it has ...

. It is one of a AMOS series of satellites built by

(IAI).

History

Spacecom, the AMOS satellites operator, announced in June 2012 that it had signed a US$195 million contract to build AMOS-6, the newest addition to the AMOS constellation, with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). In January 2013, Spacecom announced that they had signed a contract with

for the 2015 launch of the AMOS-6 satellite on a

launch vehicle. AMOS-6 was intended to replace the

AMOS-2 AMOS-2 is an Israeli commercial second generation communication satellite, part of the AMOS series of satellites. The satellite was positioned at 4° West longitude in the geostationary orbit. Transmission and communication services given by ...

satellite, planned to be retired in 2016. During 2015 Spacecom announced the launch date had slipped to mid-2016. A final launch date was set for 3 September 2016. Under the deal with Spacecom, state-owned IAI was contracted to build AMOS-6 and its ground control systems, as well as provide operating services. Spacecom estimated that the cost of launching, insuring and one year's operation of AMOS-6 would be US$85 million. The AMOS-6 included payload components from various sub-contractors including Canada's

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates MDA Space Ltd. is a Canadian space technology company headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, that provides geointelligence, robotics and space operations, and satellite systems. History MDA Space (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associat ...

, which built the communications payload, and

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...

ETCA for the electric propulsion. The satellite " ncorporatednew technologies that represent a significant leap forward in the capabilities of IAI and the state of Israel in space", according to IAI's president.

Lease to external customers

In October 2015,

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

company

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and satellite fleet operator

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it has been the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Its subsidiary E ...

agreed to pay Spacecom US$95 million over a period of about five years for the lease of the

Ka-band The Ka band (pronounced as either "kay-ay band" or "ka band") is a portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The designation "Ka-band" is from Kurz-above, which stems from the German word ''kurz,'' meaning "short". There ...

spot-beam broadband capacity — 36 regional spotbeams with a throughput of about 18

Gbit/s In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...

— on AMOS-6 to provide service for Facebook and a new Eutelsat subsidiary focusing on African businesses. Costs would be divided in approximately equal shares between Eutelsat and Facebook. The parties agreed to the right to terminate the contract if AMOS-6 and the ground gateways in France, Italy and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

were not ready for service by 1 January 2017. The lease was for the use of the satellite until September 2021, with an option for a two-year extension at a reduced rate. After a technical analysis, including an assessment of customer power requirements, Facebook and Eutelsat concluded that only 18 out of the 36

spot beams could be used simultaneously without sacrificing user experience.

Destruction

On 1 September 2016, during propellant loading for a routine test, the Falcon 9 launch vehicle suffered an anomaly that destroyed the vehicle and its AMOS-6 payload. The explosion started near the upper stage LOX (liquid oxygen) tank. Because the satellite was destroyed prior to the launch, the cost of the satellite was not covered by Spacecom's insurance policy, but rather by the manufacturer, IAI. IAI had its own insurance and filed a claim in order to compensate Spacecom. Spacecom's contract with SpaceX specified that Spacecom could choose to receive US$50 million, or a future flight at no cost. Spacecom chose the future flight to launch AMOS-17. News reports in early November 2016 indicated that SpaceX had determined the root cause for the anomaly, that it was straightforwardly fixable, and that SpaceX would return to flight in December 2016. On 2 January 2017, SpaceX released an official statement indicating that the cause of the failure was a buckled liner in several of the Composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) tanks, causing perforations that allowed liquid and/or solid oxygen to accumulate between the liner and the overwrap, which was ignited by friction.

References

External links