Intelsat 22, is a

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitu ...

and constructed by Boeing Space Systems for the Intelsat Corporation. The satellite was planned to be located at 72° East Longitude over the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. The

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...

(ADF) signed a US$167 million contract with Intelsat for the UHF payload on the Intelsat 22 satellite for 15 years of service.

Communications payloads

Intelsat 22 had three distinct communications payloads. A 48 channel C-band payload with 36 MHz channels, a 24 channel

Ku-band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...

payload with 36 MHz channels, and an 18 channel

Ultra high frequency Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

(UHF) payload with 25 kHz channels.

C-band payload

The Intelsat 24 C-band payload consists of 48 operational 36 MHz channels. Two antennas provide service to the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

regions. There is some cross connect capability between the two regions.

Ku-band payload

The Intelsat 18 Ku-band payload consists of 24 operational 36 MHz channels with coverage for the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, Africa, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

UHF payload

The UHF payload consists of 18 operational 25 kHz channels which were added to the Intelsat 22 satellite as a result of the contract with ADF (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Launch

Intelsat 22 was launched on 25 March 2012 at 12:10:32 UTC.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2012 Intelsat satellites Satellites using the BSS-702 bus Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Spacecraft launched in 2012