[SatNews] Hunter Canada is preparing for their launch this Sunday, March 1st. The hosted payload for Hunter Canada Ku-beam on the E115@B satellite will be launched by SpaceX with a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral at approximately 11 PM EST, with live streaming here http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

A successful launch will mark the end of a three-year program to build and design the Hunter Canada beam. After which Hunter begins operations with the new beam by October of this year with a projected life span of 16 years.  Until the end of this year, they will also continue to operate the inclined orbit U.S./Canada beam on the Satmex-5. In addition, as part of the final testing of the satellite, the manufacturer recently released new contour maps and the results were 1.5dB to 4dB higher than even previously estimated. The bottom line is an average performance of four to six times higher power than all other Ku- options in Canada

Hunter Communications has invested in an expansion of Ku-band capacity over Canada and the U.S. Through it’s partnership with Satmex Corp, Hunter has made the investments to add “The Canada/U.S. beam” at a prime orbital position, adding much needed Ku-band space segment over the region for data network requirements, i.e. maritime, aeronautical, land-based mobile, and fixed V-SAT.

By adding a new beam and new transponder capacity, this will be the first material increase for non-DTH customers that will add much needed Ku-band capacity with full-Canada coverage—up to 576 MHz in inclined orbit until September 2015 and up to 288 MHz on a new stabilized satellite thereafter.

Hunter Communications, a satellite space segment provider based in New York and Alberta, has partnered with Satmex to deliver new high powered coverage of Canada at the 114.9 degrees W.L. orbital position. 

Benefits include: 

• Provides a material increase of Ku-band capacity to the Canadian market. 


• Focused on providing additional capacity for non-DTH video markets—intended for remote Canada, aeronautical, maritime requirements, and traditional satellite data networks. 


• Best orbital position for Canadian coverage, as it is the only satellite that guarantees a minimum 10 degrees look angle from anywhere in mainland Canada. 


• The strongest EIRP in the Northwest Passage, suitable for aircraft and maritime vessels. 


• Significantly better off-axis and power density limits than any comparable satellite in the region—best Mbps/MHz ratio for small antenna applications 


• Diversity of satellite suppliers 


• Coverage also complies with the U.S. Gov’t minimum 50-state coverage for task orders 


• Cost per MHz much less than traditional Canadian Ku-band coverage