08 August 2019

The sattelite

Avanti Communications Group successfully launched Hylas 3 from Kourou, French Guiana on Ariane Flight VA249.

The Ariane 5 rocket launched it into its correct orbit on schedule, the company said. Hylas 3 separated from the Ariane 5 rocket on time and telemetry was received by the control centre at the European Spaceport. It is a hosted Ka-band communications payload on board the EDRS-C satellite - a public private partnership between the European Space Agency and aerospace business Airbus SE.

This is the second successful launch of an Avanti payload and brings total fleet capacity over Europe, the Middle East and Africa to 50 gigahertz.

"I'm pleased to announce Hylas 3 has been successfully launched thereby completing our capital expenditure cycle," said chief executive officer Kyle Whithill. "The satellite will undertake a series of pre-planned in-orbit acceptance tests over the coming months before we commence service for customers."