HYLAS (or HYLAS-1) is a British satellite in geostationary orbit. HYLAS, which is an acronym for Highly Adaptable Satellite, is a communications satellite and was launched by the European Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guyana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana.[3] It is located at the orbital location of 33.5 degrees west and will provide new and innovative services including High Definition Television (HDTV) and interactive satellite delivered broadband services.[4] [5] The satellite will help address the issue of poor broadband coverage in many parts of Europe which have less developed ground infrastructure.[citation needed]

HYLAS-1
Mission typeCommunication
OperatorAvanti Communications
COSPAR ID2010-065A[1]
SATCAT no.37237
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerISRO/Antrix
Launch mass2,242 kilograms (4,943 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date26 November 2010, 18:39:00 (2010-11-26UTC18:39Z) UTC
RocketAriane 5ECA V198
Launch siteKourou ELA-3
ContractorArianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Longitude33.5° West
Perigee altitude35,774 kilometres (22,229 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude35,801 kilometres (22,246 mi)[2]
Inclination0.05 degrees[2]
Period1,436.15 minutes[2]
Epoch16 December 2010[2]

Construction

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HYLAS was constructed by EADS Astrium for the UK telecommunications company Avanti Communications Plc. Development of the satellite was supported by a £23m investment from the British National Space Centre (BNSC).[6]

Launch

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Avanti purchased for HYLAS a launch to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The purchase, in September 2007, made Avanti the first customer to purchase a commercial geostationary launch from SpaceX.[7] In July 2009 Arianespace announced that HYLAS would instead be launched in 2010, "using an Ariane 5 or Soyuz launcher" from Arianespace.[8][9] Avanti had previously criticized Arianespace as being overly expensive, but a move to Arianespace was motivated by prospective customers' concerns about launch risks associated with Falcon 9. Also, additional financial assets became available, including 10.7 million pounds from British contributions ESA's Artes telecommunications development program.[10]

HYLAS successfully launched at 18:41 GMT on the 26 November 2010 by Ariane 5.

Mission

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HYLAS is based on the Indian Space Research Organisation's I-2K small satellite platform under a cooperative arrangement between EADS Astrium and ISRO/Antrix.[11]

The HYLAS payload carries two Ku band transponders, intended mainly for HDTV, and six Ka band transponders feeding up to eight Spotbeams, allowing the provision of between 150,000 and 300,000 simultaneous broadband Internet connections. The HYLAS satellite had a launch mass of around 2100 kg and a beginning-of-life power of 3.5 kW.[12]

Orbital position

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The orbital position of HYLAS was adjusted to 18.3° West Longitude during June 2019.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sat Cat". Celestrak. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e McDowell, Jonathan. "SATCAT". Jonathan's Space Pages. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. ^ The Hindu - November 27, 2010 -ISRO's communication satellite HYLAS launched successfully [1]
  4. ^ S Günes 100827. "Ka Band Launches (as seen 6th Sept. 2010)". Lyngsat.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Avanti PLC (10 July 2023). "Avanti Launch confirmation (as seen 6th Sept. 2010)". Avanti.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "BNSC - Avanti". Archived from the original on 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2007-10-08. BNSC case study on Avanti and the HYLAS satellite
  7. ^ "Updates Archive - New Customer". SpaceX. 2007-12-10. Archived from the original on 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  8. ^ "Arianespace to launch HYLAS". Arianespace. July 22, 2009. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009.
  9. ^ Jonathan Amos (July 23, 2009). "Broadband satellite jumps rocket". BBC. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  10. ^ Peter B. de Selding (13 July 2009). "Satellite Firm Raises $68 Million in Cash to Switch Rockets". Space News.
  11. ^ "Your Daily Briefing of Satellite". Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2007-10-08. SatNews Daily report on HYLAS
  12. ^ http://www.esa.int/esaTE/SEMAB09ATME_index_0.html ESA News
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