A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad, carrying Telesat’s Telstar 18 Vantage HTS. Source: SpaceX

SpaceX successfully launched a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today, carrying Telesat‘s new Telstar 18 Vantage high throughput satellite (HTS). Built by SSL, a Maxar Technologies company, Telstar 18 Vantage is the third HTS in Telesat’s global fleet.

Telstar 18 Vantage will replace and expand on the capabilities of Telesat’s Telstar 18 satellite with its extensive C-band capacity over Asia, its Ku-band HTS spot beams over Indonesia and Malaysia, and its five additional regional Ku-band beams. Operating from 138 degrees East, the satellite’s coverage reaches across Asia all the way to Hawaii — in both C- and Ku-band— enabling direct connectivity between any point in Asia and the Americas. Its Ku-band payloads of HTS spot beams and focused regional beams will provide customers operating in Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Australia and New Zealand, and the north Pacific Ocean with greater choice and flexibility to serve today’s bandwidth intensive applications.

Telesat Vantage satellites combine focused regional beams with powerful HTS spot beams enabling users to maximize throughput and spectral efficiency while optimizing network performance. By implementing these advances on Telstar 18 Vantage, Telesat customers across the Asia-Pacific region now have a competitive edge in meeting growing demand for satellite broadband from aerospace and maritime service providers, enterprise network operators, and leading telecom companies.

Telstar 18 VANTAGE is expected to enter commercial service after it has successfully completed orbit raising and comprehensive in-orbit testing. As previously announced, Telesat has partnered with APT Satellite of Hong Kong in the design and procurement of this new spacecraft, which APT calls Apstar-5C. The satellite has a 15-year design life.