Avanti ordered a new communications satellite with Orbital Sciences Corporation (Oribital ATK – Northrop Grumman). The spacecraft, to be named HYLAS 2, would be based on Orbital’s Star-2.4 satellite platform. The satellite was launched on August 2^nd, 2012 by an Ariane 5 rocket operated by launch operator Arianespace. HYLAS 2 satellite will more than triple the satellite capacity that it will offer with iAvanti’s first Ka-band satellite, HYLAS 1.

The HYLAS 2 satellite will carry 24 active Ka-band user beams and four gateway beams, and will produce approximately 5.0 kilowatts of payload electrical power. The Ka-band spot beams will provide two-way communications services to facilitate high-speed delivery of data to end-user applications such as corporate networking, broadband Internet access, business continuity services and video distribution. Using the HYLAS 2 spacecraft, Avanti will provide its data and video services to Northern and Southern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle-East. In addition, the spacecraft will be equipped with a steerable spot beam, also operating at Ka-band, which can provide coverage anywhere on Earth that is visible to the satellite.