The satellite of Mexsat Bicentenario sent its first signals from space on December 20, Thursday, as one of the first of three Mexsat satellites for the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) of Mexico to help improve the communications of the country for civil, domestic, humanitarian and military needs.
Built by Orbital Sciences under contract to Boeing, Mexsat Bicentenario was made as a hybrid-band and Ku-band communications satellite based on the flight-proven GEOStar-2 platform of Orbital. Boeing will serve as the principal contractor of Mexsat and will be in charge of creating the remaining two 702HP geomobile satellites for its scheduled launches in 2013 and 2014. Additionally, Boeing will incorporate the Mexsat network, while Orbital is in charge of supplying the command and control ground equipment and software for the Bicentenario, as well as the operational documentation and associated training.
In a statement, Boeing Satellite Systems International CEO and Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems Vice President and General Manager Craig Cooning said: “Today's successful launch brings us closer to the establishment of the MEXSAT system, which will enhance Mexico’s disaster-relief and emergency services, and provide satellite broadcasting capabilities in telemedicine and tele-education.”
