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ARSAT

Argentine government-owned telecommunications company incorporated in 2006

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anónima AR-SAT, usually known simply as ARSAT, is an Argentine government-owned telecommunications company incorporated in 2006 as a Sociedad Anónima through the federal law 26.092. At the time of incorporation, its ownership was shared by the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services (98%) and the Ministry of Economy and Public Finances (2%).

01Business lines

Current business products

As of 2014, ARSAT had four business lines:

  • TDA (Spanish: Televisión Digital Abierta): A country wide digital terrestrial television SATVD-T broadcasting network. The Argentine government ordered a national terrestrial network, where all licensed broadcasting stations can get their programs transmitted through the common system. ARSAT is in charge of developing and installing the initial 90 broadcasting stations.
  • Argentine Geostationary Communication Satellite System (SSGAT for Spanish: Sistema Satelital Geoestacionario Argentino de Telecomunicaciones): The Argentine government has decided to fund a national satellite system where all ITU assigned geostationary orbital slots are filled with satellites designed and manufactured locally. It currently includes the ARSAT-1, ARSAT-2 and ARSAT-3.
    • Conectar Igualdad (Spanish for Connecting Equality): It's the national program for reducing the digital divide. ARSAT is in charge of the satellite segment of the program through the SSGAT.
    • TDA: ARSAT is also in charge of the satellite broadcasting segment of the national digital television broadcasting network.
  • Federal Fiber Optics Network (ReFeFO for Spanish: Red Federal de Fibra Óptica): The Argentine government has funded a 52,000 km (32,000 mi) fiber optic network to transport Internet, Digital Television, Telephony and private data. ARSAT is in charge of its construction and operation.
    • Conectar Igualdad: ARSAT is also in charge of leveraging the RFFO for this digital divide program.
    • TDA: ARSAT is also in charge of connecting the TDA terrestrial network through the RFFO.
  • Data Center: In its ground station in Benavídez, Tigre Partido, Buenos Aires, ARSAT has built and operates a 4,200 m2 (45,000 sq ft) TIER III certified data center.
  • CEATSA: An environmental testing laboratory. While it is physically connected to INVAP's satellite manufacturing facility, ARSAT holds a majority ownership (80% as of 2015).

Former business products

  • Libre.ar (cancelled): In December 2012, gave ARSAT a mandate to set up a cellular network that would be open to small operators. This was possible because the Government had kept a set of frequency bands for a national network operator. The program never materialized and just 18 months later the frequencies were put up for auction.

02Satellites

SatelliteLaunch (UTC)Launch VehicleLaunch siteOrbitPayloadStatusNotes
Nahuel 1A22:04, January 30, 1997 (UTC) (1997-01-30T22:04:00Z)Ariane 44L (V93)Guiana Space Centre ELA-2GSO 71.8 West27 Ku band TPERetired on June 7, 2010Launched along GE-2
ARSAT-121:43:52, October 16, 2014 (UTC) (2014-10-16T21:43:52Z)Ariane 5ECA (VA220)Guiana Space Centre ELA-3GSO 71.8 West32 Ku band TPEOperationalLaunched along Intelsat 30
ARSAT-220:30, September 30, 2015 (UTC) (2015-09-30T20:30:00Z)Ariane 5ECA (VA226)Guiana Space Centre ELA-3GSO 81 West24 IEEE Ku band TPE and 13 C band TPEOperationalLaunched along Sky Muster
ARSAT SG-12025TBATBAGSO 81 Westmulti spot Ka band bent-pipeIn DevelopmentUnder construction.
Watch videos about ARSATExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article ARSAT, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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