Falcon Heavy Sends Arabsat 6A into Orbit in Space X Rocket's First Commercial Launch
Cape Canaveral, FL, April 12, 2019 — Arabsat 6A Satellite, the last of its 6th generation satellites, was successfully launched this morning by Space X’s Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral in Florida, completing the Falcon rocket’s first commercial launch. The Falcon-Heavy rocket was launched at 22:35 (GMT), carrying Arabsat 6A satellite, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and was placed in the exclusive orbit of Arabsat 30.5 degrees East.
The satellite was deployed approximately 34 minutes after liftoff. Following booster separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Falcon Heavy’s center core landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, which signaled another success for Space X.
Khaled bin Ahmed Balkheyour, president & CEO of Arabsat, said he was thankful for the 6A satellite launch success. He said it was a challenging launch because it was the first largest and heaviest satellite lifted by SpaceX on the most powerful rocket in operation today. The launch “was considered a momentous leap in the field of commercial satellites manufacturing and launching," he said.
Arabsat-6A is a high-capacity telecommunications satellite that will deliver television, radio, Internet, and mobile communications to customers in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Built by Lockheed Martin, Arabsat 6A is the largest and most powerful commercial satellite Lockheed Martin has ever produced. The modernized LM 2100 includes several innovations that make the satellite more powerful, more flexible and more versatile in orbit.
Arabsat 6A will provide advanced Ka-spot beam communications services and Ku and Ka-band coverages in addition to other frequency bands. It will be located at Arabsat exclusive orbital position 30.5 degrees East, supporting Arabsat competitiveness as the first satellite operator in the region.
In February this year, Arabsat also successfully launched HS4 satellite at 39 degrees East for Hellas Sat, one of Arabsat subsidiary. Balkheyour acknowledged the help of young Arab engineers from Arabsat headquarter and its two ground stations in Riyadh and Tunisia, where those satellites will be operated and controlled.
“Those young engineers were fully involved in the design as well as in the supervision and manufacturing stages of the satellites," Balkheyour said.
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