Telstar 12 Vantage

Telstar 12 Vantage (Telstar 12V) is a Commercial Communications Satellite operated by Canadian satellite operator Telesat. The satellite was built by Airbus Defence and Space under a contract signed in August 2013, calling for Telstar 12 to significantly enhance Telesat’s services as part of a multi-mission architecture. Telstar 12V will put to use an all-Ku payload to deliver broadband data services to the Americas and the Europe, Middle-East and Africa region plus maritime zones across Europe, the Caribbean and southern Atlantic Ocean.

Telstar 12V was built by Airbus Defence and Space based on the flight-proven Eurostar-3000 satellite bus. The platform is capable of hosting communications payloads with a total power exceeding 16,000 Watts. The spacecraft platform can support a high degree of customization to be able to support a variety of payloads including commercial communications and military payload packages. Eurostar-3000 made its first launch in 2004.

The Telstar 12V satellite has a launch mass of around 4,900 Kilograms. The satellite platform consists of a central cylinder which facilitates the propellant tanks for the bi-propellant propulsion system. The cylinder consists of several segments connected via ring-joints. Internal composite panels are mounted to the cylinder to facilitate the external panels and provide mounting platforms for the various satellite components.

Two deployable solar arrays are used for power generation featuring triple-junction Gallium-Arsenide solar cells. Power is stored in onboard batteries while a Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit regulates the satellite’s power bus and controls the state of charge of the batteries. Telstar 12V will generate a total power of 11,000 Watts at the end of its mission.

A dedicated bi-propellant propulsion system will be used for apogee maneuvers and stationkeeping maneuvers in Geostationary Orbit. Eurostar-3000 is three-axis stabilized featuring a state of the art navigation system. The satellite provides precise Earth-pointing capabilities and stationkeeping accuracy is +/-0.05 degrees. E-3000 provides the option of adding an electric propulsion system.

Telstar 12V sports an all-Ku-Band payload consisting of 52 Ku-band – 36 MHz equivalent transponders, combining broad coverage beams and spotbeam communications to achieve flexible data services. The combination of broad regional beams and more focused high-throughput spotbeams offers enhanced performance for broadband networks on the ground, in the air and at sea. As an all-Ku satellite, Telstar 12V will be compatible with the existing terminal equipment used for the former satellites in the constellation.

Stationed at 15 degrees West in Geostationary Orbit, Telstar 12V can deliver coverage to the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The satellite replaces the Telstar 12 spacecraft launched in 1999 and approaching the end of its service life, utilizing 38 transponders. The additional transponders of the new satellite will be used to expand data throughout at this important orbital location and add new coverage areas in Brazil and East Africa.

The expected service life of the satellite is the industry standard of 15 years.