Intelsat will operate the first geostationary ‘hummingbird’

Nov. 8 () –

Intelsat will operate the first miniature communications satellite for geostationary orbit HummingSat, developed by ESA and the Swiss company SWISSto12. It will be called Intelsat 45 (IS-45).

HummingSats, named for the tiny, agile, swift and seemingly stationary hummingbird, have a volume of just over a cubic meter, which is one tenth the size of conventional satellites which are placed in geostationary orbit about 36,000 kilometers above the Earth.

HummingSats are much more affordable to build and launch because they are small and lightweight, and are designed for rideshare missions on launchers that carry one or more larger spacecraft into geostationary transfer orbit. The satellites use innovative additive manufacturing radio frequency equipment and are there to complement much larger legacy spacecraft, augmenting and expanding capacity where needed, explains the ESA in a statement.

Scheduled for release in 2025IS-45 will provide commercial fixed satellite services that will allow Intelsat to provide “a specialized and efficient service to its media and network customers.”