The Amos 3 satellite will be the first western communications satellite to be launched directly into orbit

Putting the satellite into orbit using the third stage of the Zenith rocket will save on fuel, and will make it possible to extend the active life of the satellite from 12 to 18 years, said CEO of Space Communications David Polak during a press tour of the Amos 3 assembly facility

(More details and photos - later today)

The Amos 3 satellite, which should be launched in early 2008 from Kazakhstan, will be the first Western satellite to use the technology of direct injection into geostationary orbit using the third stage of the Zenith rocket. This action will save a lot of fuel that was used in the Amos 1 and 2 satellites to raise the satellite from a low transit orbit to a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 36 thousand kilometers. Now fuel will only be required for driving the satellite to the exact point in its orbit and not for raising the altitude. This is what the managers of the Space Company and the managers of the Amos 3 project at the Space Company and the aerospace industry told during a press tour held this morning (Thursday) at the Amos 3 assembly facility in Yehud.

The CEO of the space company, David Polak, said that this action will make it possible to extend the active life of the satellite from 12 to 18 years at no additional cost. For six more years, this is of great economic value, and the space company hopes that they will sell its services for an aggregate value of over half a billion dollars. Already now - a few months before the launch, Levin has accumulated orders of about 160 million dollars. The launch of the Amos 3 satellite is planned for the beginning of 2008 from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on a Ukrainian-made Zenit rocket through the Russian company SIS.

In a few weeks, the satellite will be flown in a special container, built especially for it, to a vibration facility in Germany, so that it can pass tests of its resistance to launch vibrations and the conditions of space. Only then will it be transferred to launch in Kazakhstan.

in a special facility in Germany. David Polak, CEO of the Space Communications Company and managers of the Amos 3 project at the Space Company and in the aerospace industry - Dodi Zusiman and Zion Shagiv (respectively) presented the features of the satellite.

The manager of the Amos 3 project at the space company, Dodi Zusiman, said that the Amos 3 satellite will replace Amos 4, which ended its active life, more than two years after the planned date, at a point in space located on the equator, at the longitude 1 degrees west.
Polk adds that the cost of building and launching the satellite amounts to 170 million dollars. Amos was built for a space company by the aerospace industry, and its people also monitor the satellite throughout its life 24 hours a day, to respond to customer requests - which are companies like Yes in Israel and HBO in Europe. At this point, Amos 3 will join Amos 2, which has been there since the end of 2003. According to Polk, the Amos 3 satellite will have, in addition to the 12 72 MHz transponders that will transmit digital TV broadcasts (in the Ku frequency), also two 500 MHz wide transponders each in the Ka range - these transponders will allow high-bandwidth data communication to be transmitted. Also, two transponders with mobile beams were installed on the satellite that can be directed to areas of demand even after the satellite is launched, in addition to the areas to which the fixed transponders are directed - the Middle East, Central Europe and the East Coast of the USA
In addition, the Space Company signed a contract with the aerospace industry to build Amos 4 that will allow the company to penetrate new markets.
"From the point at 4 degrees west we serve the Middle East, we have a beam to Europe and the east coast of the USA. We want to expand from an international supplier to a global supplier - which can more or less cover large parts of the needs on the planet. Amos 4 will be placed opposite them at a point on the line of India, the place was chosen according to the possibilities and convenience of finding permits for broadcasts. From this point, which is more eastern, he will be able to see from Japan to the Middle East region and then we can transmit broadcasts from Japan to the USA.