Amazonas 1

The Amazonas 1 Latin American satellite, launched in the summer of 2004, is the fifth and most powerful satellite launched by the Spanish telecommunications satellite organization Hispasat so far. It provides a full range of both fixed and broadcast communications services, including TV broadcasting, business services, VSAT, and data broadcasting, to the whole of the American continent, together with a transatlantic link for Europe and North Africa, over a 15-year mission lifetime. Prime contractor, Astrium designed and built the spacecraft and supplied both the platform (based on the Eurostar-3000S version of the company's Eurostar series) and the payload. Amazonas has lost pressure in one of two oxidizer tanks on the spacecraft. If the problem is not corrected, it could reduce the amount of propellant available for stationkeeping operations, which in turn would reduce the 15-year operational lifetime of the spacecraft. Amazonas has reached its position in geosynchronous orbit at 61 degrees west and is expected to enter commercial service in mid-September despite the propellant problem.