Maxar-built Star One D2 arrives at Cayenne airport in French Guiana, safely packed in its shipping container. Image credit: © 2021 ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE / Optique video du CSG–JM GUILLON
The Maxar-built Star One D2 satellite arrived at the Arianespace launch facility in French Guiana earlier this week. This powerful, multimission communications satellite will join the fleet of Embratel, the largest satellite operator in Brazil and Latin America, and a business unit of Claro, a worldwide leading telecommunications company. Star One D2 is set to launch on an Ariane 5 rocket operated by Arianespace later this summer.
This high-capacity satellite, built on Maxar’s proven 1300-class bus, will improve access to high-quality entertainment and information services for customers and businesses in Latin America. Star One D2 hosts multiple payloads, which will enable it to expand broadband coverage to new regions in Central and South America, provide internet access to underserved populations and add an updated X-band payload for government use over the Atlantic region.
All of Star One D2’s reflectors are deployed as it undergoes testing in the Compact Antenna Test Range at Maxar’s manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California.
This is the third satellite that Maxar has manufactured for Embratel. Maxar previously built Star One C4, which launched in July 2015 and provides direct-to-home television service in Brazil, and Star One D1, which launched in December 2016 and was the first satellite in Embratel’s fourth-generation family of satellites.
Watch Star One D2’s launch on Arianespace’s YouTube channel.
This rendering shows what Star One D2 will look like once operational on orbit.