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The Mexican Satellite System, also known as MEXSAT, is a network of three satellites bought by the Mexican government's Ministry of Communications and Transportation. The three satellites are named Mexsat-1, Mexsat-2, and Mexsat-3. Subsequently, they have also been named Centenario, Morelos III and Bicentenario respectively. Mexsat-1 and Mexsat-2 are twin satellites for mobile communication devices and will operate in the electromagnetic frequencies of the L and Ku bands. Mexsat-3 will operate in the range of the extended C and Ku bands. Together these three satellites will form the whole system, operated by the Ministry of Communications and Transportation. The system is expected to meet the telecommunications needs of the whole country. Two control centres have been built in
Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...
from which the new satellites will be operated. They were inaugurated by the then-president
Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 and 2004. ...
on 29 November 2012.


History

On 20 August 2009, the National Security Program of
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
announced the MEXSAT project as a means by which to preserve security in Mexico. It is developed by the Ministry of Communications and Transportation and on 17 December 2010 in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
, the Federal Government signed a contract for the acquisition of the MEXSAT system by Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc. On 28 June 2011 a contract is signed with Arianespace SA, who will provide the launch services for Mexsat-3. On 6 February 2012 a contract is signed with International Launch Services (ILS) to provide the launch services for Mexsat-1. In April 2012 the government renames the satellites from Mexsat-1, 2 and 3 to Centenario, Morelos III and Bicentenario.


Mexsat-1

The first of the three satellites which formed the MEXSAT system was Centenario (originally Mexsat-1), named to commemorate the centenary of the beginning of the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
. It was a Boeing 702HP communications satellite completed in November 2013. It was equipped with an
L band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...
reflector and a Ku band antenna. It had an estimated lifespan of 15 years. The satellite was launched on an ILS
Proton-M The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an Expendable launch system, expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet Union, Soviet-developed Proton (rocket family), Proton. It is built by Khrunichev State R ...
rocket on 16 May 2015. However, 490 seconds after lift-off a technical failure in the third stage of the craft caused the destruction of the satellite, which burned up in the atmosphere and fell into
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
.


Mexsat-2

The second satellite, Morelos III (originally Mexsat-2) was due to be launched in the last quarter of 2014 but was held back. It instead was launched on October 2, 2015, aboard a
United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...
. It is identical in design and function to Mexsat-1, in that it is a Boeing 702HP fitted with the same equipment. It was the second satellite in the network to achieve orbit. It is named after a previous Mexican Satellite Network, Morelos Satellite System.


Mexsat-3

The third satellite, Bicentenario (originally Mexsat-3), is so named to commemorate the bicentennial of
Mexican Independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...
. Instead of being a Boeing 702Hp like its counterparts, Mexsat-3 is instead a
GEOStar-2 The STAR-2 Bus is a fully redundant, flight-proven, spacecraft bus designed for geosynchronous missions. It is a satellite platform, designed and developed by Thomas van der Heyden for the Indonesian Cakrawarta satellite program in the early 19 ...
manufactured by
Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...
. It was launched on 19 December 2012 from a base in
Kourou Kourou (; ) is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It ...
,
French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
, becoming the first satellite in the network to achieve orbit (contrary to its name).


See also

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References

{{Orbital launches in 2015 Communications satellite operators Space program of Mexico Telecommunications in Mexico