AMOS-17 is an Israeli commercial

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 ...

, part of the AMOS series of satellites.

History

Spacecom, the AMOS satellites operator, announced in December 2016 that it has signed a US$161 million contract with

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

to build AMOS-17, which is to replace the failed AMOS-5 satellite.

Satellite description

AMOS-17 is a multi-band high-throughput satellite. It features a Ka-band, Ku-band anc C-band communications payload. It was built on the BSS-702MP

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 ...

, transmitting in the Ka-band, Ku-band, and C-bands. It is a replacement for AMOS-5 and provides coverage over the continent of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, Europe and

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Launch

It was launched on 6 August 2019, at 23:23:00 UTC by a

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 ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

, from

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

, SLC-40,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The mass of the payload was too large to allow the booster to be recovered for reuse, so the customer paid for an "expended" launch.

Mission

The satellite was reportedly aimed to be located at 17° East

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

but, early November 2019, it was at 14° East where it has been since 19 August 2019. The satellite recovered its destination to 17° East again meanwhile.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2019 Satellite television Communications satellites of Israel Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Spacecraft launched in 2019 2019 in Israel SpaceX commercial payloads