Telstar 19 Vantage – A walk through Space

Elon Musk has been making all our space adventures a reality. If you’re a space enthusiast then you are on the right page.

Founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX is one of the leading private American aerospace manufacturers and space transportation services company. SpaceX was started with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars.

In fact, in the last 16 years, SpaceX has launched two main sets of rocket families namely – Falcon 9 and Dragon. Falcon 9 rocket is a multi-use, two-stage rocket powered by nine Merlin engines on the first stage, and a single Merlin engine on the second stage. These engines run on cryogenic liquid oxygen and a fuel called RP-1, which is a highly refined kerosene.

The Falcon rocket is topped by the Dragon spacecraft, which provides pressurized and unpressurized “trunk” space for the cargo that it carries to the International Space Station. Currently, the Falcon rocket and the Dragon spacecraft, deliver payloads into Earth orbit.

So, let’s catch up on SpaceX’s latest launches.

Telstar 19V (Telstar 19 Vantage) is the latest satellite mission launched by SpaceX.   It is a communication satellite in the Telstar series of the Canadian satellite communications company Telesat. It is the first of two missions launched by SpaceX on July 22 2018, using a Falcon 9 rocket and will serve growing consumer enterprise and mobility markets across the America and Atlantic. Currently, it is being operated by Telesat Brasil, a Brazilian satellite company wholly-owned by Telesat.The Block 5 Falcon 9 was lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida and deployed Telstar 19 Vantage into a geostationary transfer orbit.

Some Interesting Facts about Telstar 19V

• The rocket’s first stage landed on the sea-faring droneship  “Of Course I Still Love You”
• It was built by Space Systems Loral (MAXAR) and is based on the SSL-1300 bus.
• Till date, it is the heaviest commercial communications satellite ever launched, weighing 7,076 kg (15,600 lbs)and surpassing the previous record, set by TerreStar-1 (6,910 kg/15230lbs), launched by Ariane 5ECA on 1 July 2009.
• It is part of a new generation of Telesat satellites that combines broad regional beams and powerful high throughput satellite (HTS) spot beams in a design optimized to serve the types of bandwidth intensive applications worldwide.
• The satellite has a mix of traditional Ku-band wide beams and Ku- and Ka-band spot beams for connectivity services including internet for consumers, stores, offices and mobile platforms like boats and airplanes.
• Telesat customer Hughes Network Systems has signed a 15-year agreement for Telstar 19 VANTAGE Ka-band capacity that he will utilize to expand its broadband satellite services for consumers and businesses in South America.
• Telesat also has long-term contracts for the entire Ka-band capacity of Telstar 19 VANTAGE over Northern Canada, including Bell Canada subsidiary Northwestel with the HTS spot beam capacity which is required to enhance broadband connectivity for all 25 communities in Nunavut (Canada’s northernmost territory).

Along with operating geostationary satellites, Telesat also planned to prepare a constellation of 117 low-Earth-orbit spacecraft for high-speed broadband in 2022.

Telstar 19V is one of the most exciting and interesting projects which is helping SpaceX shape the future of space exploration. Do let us know if you would want to know more about SpaceX’s projects like like sending a car into space etc. Share your thoughts in the comments section.