Jane Edwards
A communications satellite that Orbital ATK built for GovSat – a public-private joint venture of SES and the government of Luxembourg – took off Wednesday at 4:25 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
GovSat-1 will be placed at 21.5 degrees East orbital slot to provide maritime coverage and other communications services to government clients and other customers across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, GovSat said Wednesday.
SpaceX said the rocket’s first stage used in the GovSat-1 mission was initially deployed in May 2017 to launch the NROL-76 payload.
GovSat CEO Patrick Biewer said the satellite is designed to meet government clients’ requirements and support defense and civilian security missions even in remote areas.
GovSat-1 is based on Orbital ATK’s GEOStar-3 satellite platform and has 68 transponder equivalent units and six spot beams.
The satellite will use military Ka-band and X-band frequencies to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and other communications missions.
