| Major contractors | Boeing |
|---|---|
| Bus | BSS-702 |
| Launch date | August 14, 2007 |
| Carrier rocket | Ariane 5 |
| Mission duration | 12 years |
| Mass | 6,075 kilograms (13,390 lb) |
| Orbital elements | |
| Regime | Geostationary |
| Longitude | 95°W |
| Transponders | |
| Capacity | 10 Gbit/s |
| Bandwidth | 500 MHz |
SPACEWAY-3 is a communications satellite which, as of August 2007, is undergoing on-orbit testing after its successful launch. The third satellite in the SPACEWAY series, it includes a Ka-band communications payload.[1] After testing it will be used by Hughes Network Systems to provide broadband Internet Protocol network service.
SPACEWAY-3 was launched August 14, 2007 on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.[2] It lifted off at 23:44 GMT from Ariane Launch Complex 3 of the Guiana Space Centre. Five hours and 46 minutes later, signals from the spacecraft were successfully received at a ground station in Hartebeesthoek, South Africa.[3]
In March 2007, shortly after the failure of a Sea Launch rocket launch in January, Hughes Network Systems switched launch of SPACEWAY-3 from a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket to an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.[4][5]