HYLAS-1

HYLAS (or HYLAS-1) is a British satellite in geostationary orbit. HYLAS, which is an acronym for Highly Adaptable Satellite, is a communications satellite and was launched by the European Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guyana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guyana. It is located at the orbital location of 33.5 degrees west and will provide new and innovative services including High Definition Television (HDTV) and interactive satellite delivered broadband services. The satellite will help address the issue of poor broadband coverage in many parts of Europe which have less developed ground infrastructure.

Construction

HYLAS was constructed by EADS Astrium for the UK telecommunications company Avanti Communications Plc. Development of the satellite was supported by a £23m investment from the British National Space Centre (BNSC).

Launch

Avanti purchased for HYLAS a launch to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The purchase, in September 2007, made Avanti the first customer to purchase a commercial geostationary launch from SpaceX. In July 2009 Arianespace announced that HYLAS would instead be launched in 2010, "using an Ariane 5 or Soyuz launcher" from Arianespace. Avanti had previously criticized Arianespace as being overly expensive, but a move to Arianespace was motivated by prospective customers' concerns about launch risks associated with Falcon 9. Also, additional financial assets became available, including 10.7 million pounds from British contributions ESA's Artes telecommunications development program.