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Orbital Sciences Corp. is preparing to launch a commercial communications satellite aboard Arianespace’s Ariane 5 ECA rocket on Friday, as the company expects to deliver Ku-band  satellite connectivity to South America.
The Amazonas 4A geosynchronous Earth orbit spacecraft was built and tested at the company’s production facility in Dulles, Va., under a contract with Spain’s Hispasat, Orbital said Thursday.
“I want to thank Hispasat for their confidence in Orbital on this important mission, which will bring significant additional capacity to their Latin American customers for a variety of television and other communications services,” said Christopher Richmond, Orbital’s senior vice president of communications satellites.
Amazonas 4A, part of the GEOStar satellite platform, will undergo in-orbit testing before delivery to Hispasat in April, Richmond added.
It is expected to generate 5 Â kilowatts of payload power to provide voice, Internet and other communication services to South America for up to 15 years.
The satellite is scheduled to launch from a site in French Guiana on Friday.
