Intelsat successfully lofts latest Epic satellite

Intelsat has successfully lofted its third EpicNG high-throughput satellite, Intelsat 32e, on board an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from French Guiana.

The satellite, located at 317° East, will primarily deliver broadband coverage for the maritime and aviation markets in Caribbean and North Atlantic.

Intelsat 32e is designed to overlay certain beams of Intelsat 29e, the company’s first Intelsat EpicNG bird, increasing the throughput available in the highly-trafficked Caribbean and North Atlantic routes and providing resiliency for mobility network operators servicing those shipping and air routes.

The latest launch follows that of Intelsat 33e, which entered service at the end of last month, extending the satellite operator’s C-, Ku- and Ka-band footprint across the Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions.

The next EpicNG satellite to launch will be Intelsat 35e, on board a SpaceX Falcon launcher in the second quarter.

“This is the first of three Intelsat EpicNG satellite launches planned for 2017 as we continue to deploy our high-performance overlay on the world’s first globalised network.  With the addition of Intelsat 32e, Intelsat is now the only satellite operator with HTS resiliency over the world’s busiest air route,” said Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer, Intelsat.

“Intelsat 32e also increases our capabilities to support the growth of our maritime customers in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, such as the exclusive use of our services for broadband to most of the world’s largest cruise ships sailing the Caribbean right now.”

While the EpicNG fleet is designed primarily to serve broadband and mobile markets, the satellites enable  frequency re-use via targeted spot-beams, allowing beams for DTH operators to be targeted at specific regions as well as enabling interactive two-way IP services.