O3b Successfully Launches Four More Satellites to Complete Iniitial Constellation

Le Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, French Guiana , December 18, 2014: Arianspace successfully launched four satellites for O3b using a Soyuz rocket from the Space Center in French Guiana. The launch follows the successful launches of the first eight O3b satellites in two batches in June 2013 and July 2014, completing the initial constellation of 12 satellites for O3b's medium-earth orbit, all-Ka-band system.

The new satellites will now go through a period of in-orbit testing before being fully integrated into the O3b network early in the new year.  O3b Networks started full commercial service on September 1, 2014.  The O3b system delivers fiber like performance, with throughput exceeding 1 Gbps per connection and latency comparable with terrestrial networks, but retains the flexibility and ubiquity of satellite.   The company has now launched 8 satellites in 5 months, adding more than 80 Gbps of capacity and growing the fleet capacity to over 100 Gbps.  

Already deployed in locations as diverse as the Colombian Amazon, DRC’s capital Kinshasa, the world’s newest country – South Sudan and Papua New Guinea, O3b is providing  connectivity to digitally disadvantaged populations across the globe.

The launch marks the resumption of Soyuz launches from the Guiana Space Center, four months after an orbital injection anomaly occurred on the previous Soyuz mission. The European independent Inquiry Board named by Arianespace and the Russian Inquiry Board named by Russian space agency Roscosmos, submitted converging conclusions concerning the cause of this anomaly. Both boards issued a series of recommendations, which were implemented to ensure a fast, secure resumption of launches.

The four new O3b satellites have been acquired on their targeted orbit by the O3b Networks team.

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