SMS Teleport is looking into allocating resources for the replacement satellite for Amos 6 which was lost last September in the Space-X Falcoln 9 explosion.
It was announced this week in a joint statement that an agreement has been made by Spacecom to utilize capacity on part of AsiaSat’s newest satellite. The agreement that will last four years will serve as a interim replacement for the lost Amos 6 which was unrecoverable due to an explosion in pre-launch testing in September 2016. In the $88 Million deal Spacecom have leased the 24 Ku-band transponders of their latest satellite that will serve as a replacement for the services scheduled to be activated before the loss of the spacecraft. It is still unknown whether a further agreement has been made for the Ka-Band payload for this satellite. Although in a statement with SpaceNews, Spacecom explained they are going to replace the Amos-6 Ka-Band payload when it launches a new satellite for the 4° West orbital slot in approximately four years.
AsiaSat 8 will be relocated from its 105.5° East orbital slot covering China to the 4° West orbital slot where it will be covering Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The transition is scheduled to take 45 days following regulatory approval and is expected to come into service during the beginning of next year following a series of tests once in position. Spacecom will be utilizing AsiaSat 8 to replace Amos-2 which 13 years after launch is approaching the end of its service life. The previously planned Amos-6 was scheduled to replace Amos-2 and expand its payload from 28 Ku-band transponders to 39 Ku-band transponders and 24 Ka-band transponders.
More information about AsisSat 8 and the agreement between Spacecom can be found here; http://www.asiasat.com/news/press