Eutelsat 117 West B (SatMex 9) at 117° West
Position: | 117° West |
Manufacturer: | Boeing |
Operator: | Eutelsat |
Launch operator: | SpaceX |
Launch vehicle: | Falcon 9 |
Launch date: | 06/15/2016 |
Expected lifetime: | 15+ Years |
The Eutelsat 117 West B satellite offers four regional Ku-band beams with exceptional coverage of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, the Andean region and the Southern Cone.
Located at 117° West, the satellite strengthens DTH and DTT-video capacities at the new multi-satellite neighbourhood which is already used by Millicom’s Tigo Star, Stargroup and Televisa.
Eutelsat 117 West B also offers key services to telecom operators and government serviceproviders in Latin America, and features a new-generation WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) payload operated by Raytheon as prime contractor for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Eutelsat 117 West B is commercialised by Eutelsat Americas and is the second new-generation electric satellite in Eutelsat’s fleet.
Eutelsat 117 West B was originally ordered with Boeing Defense & Space by Satelites Mexicanos S.A.B. de C.V. (SatMex). The new SatMex 9 satellite would provide Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) to the Americas. SatMex was acquired be Eutelsat in 2014 and was rebranded Eutelsat Americas. In May 2014, the satellite was renamed Eutelsat 117 West B.
The satellite was launched on June 15th, 2016 on a Falcon 9 rocket operated by launch operator SpaceX.