ViaSat-1 Launch Scheduled for End of September
2017-05-15
After a series of delays, Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) confirmed it has completed construction of the ViaSat-1 high-capacity satellite and is preparing to ship the spacecraft to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, ViaSat announced July 21.
ViaSat-1 is now scheduled to launch on an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket during the last week in September.
The launch was originally scheduled for Spring 2011, but was pushed back to the end of summer. The mission was delayed a second time when a solar array onboard the Telstar 14R satellite failed to fully deploy following its launch in May. Telstar 14R, like ViaSat-1, was built by SS/L using many of the same solar array elements.
“An extensive, independent review of the solar array design, manufacturing and operation was convened by SS/L, which resulted in a set of inspections, tests and corrective actions for subsequent SS/L satellites, including ViaSat-1. That work is now complete on ViaSat-1 and the satellite has been declared ready for flight. We have been working closely with ILS to fit ViaSat-1 into a busy launch schedule that was disrupted by the delay," ViaSat CEO and Chairman Mark Dankberg said in a statement.
The ViaSat-1 Ka-band spot beam satellite aims to provide coverage over North America with a capacity estimated at 150 Gbps.
