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SpaceX, Spacecom to launch new satellites
after explosion last year
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 [October 18, 2017]
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Space
Communications has signed a deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch two
communication satellites into orbit, after a prior attempt ended in
disaster.
The explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket last year at Cape Canaveral in
Florida dealt a major blow to the Israeli satellite operator. But Space
Communications said on Wednesday the first new satellite, Amos-17, would
be sent into orbit in 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at no extra
cost.
Spacecom said it had agreed to pay SpaceX up to $62 million to launch a
second satellite, Amos-8, a year later.
The agreements are welcome news for Spacecom after a couple of years of
setbacks beyond the SpaceX explosion. In 2015 it lost contact with one
of its satellites and earlier this year its controlling shareholder
became the target of a securities investigation.
Amos-17, bought from Boeing Satellite Systems International for $161
million, is aimed at expanding and strengthening Spacecom's coverage of
growing satellite service markets in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Launch is scheduled for the second quarter of 2019 and it is set to
operate for 19 years.
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A remodeled version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at the
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the launcher’s first mission
since a June failure in Cape Canaveral, Florida, December 21, 2015.
The rocket carried a payload of eleven satellites owned by Orbcomm,
a New Jersey-based communications company. The first stage returned
to land following launch. REUTERS/Joe Skipper
The Amos-8 launch is expected for the second half of 2020.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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