AMAZONAS 3

Amazonas 3 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by the Hispasat Group, a Spanish satellite telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid. Catalogued by the United States Space Command under NORAD ID 39078 and international designator 2013-006A, the spacecraft was placed into service in early 2013 to extend broadband and broadcast connectivity across South America, with a particular emphasis on Brazil. It remains in orbit today, continuing to serve as part of Hispasat's expanding regional network.

Mission and Purpose

The primary mission of Amazonas 3 is to deliver telecommunications capacity across the Americas, with Brazil forming the core of its service footprint. The satellite provides both C-band and Ku-band coverage, a combination that allows it to support a diverse range of services — from direct-to-home television broadcasting to corporate data networks and broadband internet access. C-band frequencies, which are less susceptible to rain fade, are particularly well suited to the tropical climate conditions that characterize much of Brazil, where heavy rainfall can degrade higher-frequency signals. Ku-band capacity, by contrast, enables high-throughput services to smaller receiving terminals, making it practical for consumer and enterprise applications.

The mission was developed as part of a joint venture between Hispasat and Oi, a major Brazilian telecommunications carrier, underscoring Hispasat's strategy of forming regional partnerships to establish a durable commercial presence in the Latin American market. This arrangement reflected a broader industry trend of European satellite operators seeking growth opportunities in emerging economies where terrestrial infrastructure remains uneven and satellite connectivity can bridge significant coverage gaps. By aligning with a nationally recognized carrier, Hispasat was able to position Amazonas 3 as a locally relevant resource rather than simply a foreign-operated relay in the sky.

The satellite's mission type and current operational status are not detailed in publicly available catalog records, which is not uncommon for commercial communications payloads where the operator controls the release of service information. What is known from the orbital record is that the spacecraft remains aloft and has not undergone any catalogued decay or reentry event.

Orbit and Tracking

Amazonas 3 occupies a geostationary orbit, the family of circular equatorial orbits at an altitude of roughly 35,786 kilometers where a satellite's orbital period matches the Earth's rotation period, causing it to appear stationary relative to a fixed point on the ground. This characteristic makes geostationary slots exceptionally valuable for communications satellites, since ground-based antennas can be pointed at a fixed position in the sky without motorized tracking systems.

The orbital data catalogued for Amazonas 3 is consistent with a well-maintained geostationary position. Its apogee stands at 35,805 km and its perigee at 35,786 km, indicating a very nearly circular orbit with only a slight eccentricity — a typical condition for an operational geostationary satellite that has been raised from its transfer orbit and station-kept into its operational slot. The orbital inclination is recorded at 0.0°, confirming that the satellite's orbital plane is aligned with the equatorial plane, as expected for a satellite using active north-south station-keeping to maintain a true geostationary position. Its orbital period is 1,436.2 minutes, which corresponds closely to one sidereal day, the benchmark that defines the geostationary arc.

Because geostationary satellites do not move appreciably relative to an observer on the ground, tracking them in the conventional sense — watching them traverse the sky — is not meaningful in the way it is for low Earth orbit objects. Amazonas 3 holds a fixed apparent position above the equator. From locations in Brazil and other areas within its coverage footprint, the satellite is perpetually visible above the southern horizon, though it is far too faint for naked-eye observation. It carries NORAD catalog ID 39078 and can be located using standard two-line element sets distributed by space surveillance networks.

Design and Operator

Amazonas 3 was manufactured by Lanteris Space Systems and is built on the SSL 1300 satellite bus, a platform that has been used extensively across the commercial communications satellite industry for its flexibility, reliability, and capacity for hosting large payload complements. The SSL 1300 bus is a three-axis stabilized design capable of accommodating a wide range of transponder configurations and supporting substantial onboard power levels, making it a natural match for a high-capacity, dual-band communications mission.

The satellite's launch mass was 6,265 kg, reflecting the weight of both the spacecraft bus and the propellant required for the long journey from the geostationary transfer orbit, into which the launch vehicle deposits the satellite, to the final circular geostationary orbit. The on-orbit dry mass — the figure that more closely represents the spacecraft hardware alone — is recorded in the catalog at 2,819 kg. The difference between these two figures represents the substantial quantity of propellant consumed during apogee raising and subsequently reserved for station-keeping across the satellite's operational lifetime.

Amazonas 3 was lofted into orbit aboard an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle, one of the most capable and commercially dominant heavy-lift rockets of its era, operated by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch took place on 6 February 2013, with the satellite reaching orbit in the early hours of 7 February 2013 in Universal Time. The Ariane 5 ECA configuration is specifically optimized for delivering heavy payloads to geostationary transfer orbits, and its dual-manifest capability — the ability to carry two large satellites simultaneously — has made it a preferred vehicle for commercial satellite operators around the world.

The operator, Hispasat, is Spain's primary satellite telecommunications group and one of Europe's established players in the satellite services market. Founded in the early 1990s to provide satellite capacity to Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, the company has over the decades expanded its ambitions substantially, developing the Amazonas satellite series as a dedicated fleet for the Americas market. Hispasat is majority-owned by the Spanish state-affiliated investment group Abertis, along with other institutional shareholders, and operates multiple orbital positions serving both European and American coverage zones.

Current Status and Significance

Within the context of Hispasat's broader portfolio, Amazonas 3 represents the company's sustained commitment to establishing a meaningful satellite infrastructure presence in Brazil, one of the largest and most commercially significant satellite markets in Latin America. Brazil's geographic scale — it is the largest country in South America by area — and the uneven distribution of its terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure have historically made satellite services an important complement to fiber and wireless networks, particularly in rural and remote regions of the interior and the Amazon basin.

The Ku-band capacity aboard Amazonas 3 enables direct-to-home broadcasting and broadband services that are otherwise difficult to deliver reliably across such terrain, while C-band transponders support backbone connectivity and distribution networks that underpin national media and communications infrastructure. The partnership with Oi was significant at the time of the satellite's entry into service, as it aligned a European orbital asset with one of the country's principal telecommunications providers, facilitating market access and local commercial relationships.

As of the available catalog data, Amazonas 3 remains in orbit with no reentry or decay recorded. Geostationary communications satellites are typically designed for operational lifetimes of fifteen years or more, sustained by onboard propellant reserves used for station-keeping. After propellant is exhausted, operators conventionally maneuver satellites to a slightly higher "graveyard orbit," clearing the valuable geostationary arc for successor spacecraft. Whether Amazonas 3 remains operationally active, has been placed in a reduced-service mode, or has been retired and repositioned is not detailed in publicly available tracking records. Its continued presence in the catalog confirms only that the object remains in orbit.

For researchers, students, and satellite enthusiasts, Amazonas 3 illustrates several characteristics common to the modern commercial geostationary communications sector: dual-band payload flexibility, international operator partnerships, the use of heritage bus platforms proven across many missions, and the deployment of heavy satellites via Ariane 5 during the period when that vehicle dominated the commercial launch market. Its NORAD catalog entry — 39078, international designator 2013-006A — allows it to be tracked and studied within any standard satellite catalog tool, and its orbital elements provide a reliable snapshot of geostationary arc management practices as they were applied during the early 2010s expansion of satellite broadband and broadcasting services across the Americas.