AMOS-6

AMOS-6 was planned as a civilian-owned communications satellite for Spacecom, with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) selected to build it.[3][4] Its intended roles combined replacement of older satellite capacity, expansion of Spacecom’s services, and a broadband project aimed at communities across sub-Saharan Africa.[4][5]

The satellite was described in contemporaneous reporting as the largest and most advanced communications satellite produced in Israel at the time.[6] Its loss before launch disrupted planned commercial agreements and prompted discussion in Israel about satellite capacity and the strategic importance of communications infrastructure.[6][7]

IAI was selected to build AMOS-6 for Spacecom Satellite Communications under a contract announced in 2012. The contract covered a satellite and ground-control station valued at $200 million, as well as operating services by IAI; Spacecom estimated launch, insurance, and one year of operation would cost another $85 million.[4] The satellite was intended to replace AMOS-2, whose service period was expected to end in 2016, and to expand the range and scope of services Spacecom could offer customers in the Middle East and Europe.[4]

Early plans called for a 2015 launch. IAI described the spacecraft as a five-ton satellite for geosynchronous orbit about 36,000 kilometers above Earth, at the 4° West orbital slot. It was expected to provide substantially greater communications capacity than AMOS-2 and to incorporate new technologies.[8] Later estimates described its mass as 5.2 tons; another report gave 5.5 tons. The sources do not clarify whether these differences reflect rounding or distinct measurements.[9][10]

AMOS-6 was designed to operate in geostationary orbit and support television, video distribution, VSAT communications, and broadband internet.[11] Its telecommunications payload was to operate across several frequency ranges.[9] Contemporary descriptions emphasized its capacity for modification to accommodate future technological developments, and an electric propulsion system was planned for an in-space test. Because the satellite never reached orbit, the propulsion system and other technologies intended for trials under space conditions were not tested.[6]

Estimates of the satellite’s planned service life varied. One report gave 15 years,[11] while other accounts described an expected life of roughly 16 years or at least 16 years.[2][4] The satellite was completed and sent to the United States for integration with the SpaceX launch vehicle before its destruction.[12]

In October 2015, Facebook, Eutelsat Communications, and Spacecom announced a multi-year arrangement to use AMOS-6’s entire broadband payload for satellite internet coverage across large parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The planned service targeted areas with limited access to reliable fixed and mobile networks and was intended to work with affordable, off-the-shelf customer equipment.[13] Coverage was planned for parts of West, East, and Southern Africa, with the project described as serving 14 countries.[5]

Facebook presented the project as a way to work with local partners to connect communities.[13] The related Internet.org initiative was described as offering access to job listings, agricultural information, healthcare, Facebook’s social-networking services, and Messenger.[2] Spacecom was expected to operate the satellite, and reporting said it anticipated $95 million from the arrangement.[5]

The planned satellite had other commercial purposes as well. It was expected to support Direct-To-Home television, video distribution, VSAT communications, and broadband services, while extending capacity for customers in Europe and the Middle East.[11][4] AMOS-6 was also intended to replace AMOS-2, which had entered orbit in 2003 and was used by Israeli television provider Yes alongside AMOS-3. Following AMOS-6’s loss, Yes was reported to be relying on one satellite in the short term, potentially increasing exposure to technical problems and possibly requiring fewer channels.[11]

On September 1, 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded at Cape Canaveral, Florida, during preparations for its planned flight with AMOS-6. The unmanned rocket was undergoing a static-fire test before a scheduled launch, and both the launch vehicle and satellite were destroyed.[2][7] No injuries were reported.[1] The satellite never entered orbit.[6]

An archived report described the Falcon 9 as a recycled rocket whose nine Merlin engines were being test-fired. It relayed SpaceX’s initial characterization of an “anomaly on the [launch] pad” and stated that the rocket and payload were a total loss. Eyewitnesses quoted in the report said the blast “rocked the building” miles from Launch Complex 40, while further explosions were reportedly visible afterward.[14]

Initial contemporaneous coverage said the cause remained under examination and described a fueling malfunction and the rocket’s second stage as possible explanations.[6] SpaceX later attributed the explosion to the failure of one of three composite overwrapped pressure vessels inside the Falcon 9’s second-stage liquid-oxygen tank. The resulting release of liquid oxygen triggered a fuel explosion. The investigation involved the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the National Transportation Safety Board.[1]

Reports used different figures to describe AMOS-6’s value, and they referred to distinct measures rather than a single consistent valuation. Contemporary reporting placed the satellite’s value at more than $200 million,[11] while another source gave an approximate cost of $300 million.[2] Spacecom reported an insurance value of $330 million and a book value of $244 million; the 2012 contract announcement had valued the satellite and ground-control station at $200 million.[12][4]

IAI was to compensate Spacecom under an insurance policy, and one report estimated an approximately $195 million reimbursement for construction costs after insurance proceeds.[6] Spacecom separately cited approximately $205 million or more than $173 million plus interest. It also expected either $50 million from SpaceX or a future launch under its existing agreement, with other insurers expected to pay a further $39 million.[15] These figures were reported in different contexts and are not directly interchangeable.

Spacecom reported signed AMOS-6 business including $100 million from Facebook and $164 million from the Israeli government.[12] Another estimate put possible revenue lost from already signed operating contracts at a further $200 million, which insurance would not cover. IAI also faced a reported $10 million penalty for late delivery, separate from compensation for the destroyed satellite.[6]

In 2019, Spacecom chief executive David Pollack said the company had lost its Facebook agreement after the failure and that Facebook subsequently decided not to make customer agreements before satellite launches. The planned sale of Spacecom to Beijing Xinwei also fell through; the proposed $285 million transaction had been conditional on AMOS-6 entering service.[16]

Israel Space Agency head Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael told a Knesset panel that Israel needed three to four communications satellites operating continuously. He warned that the loss of AMOS-6 would leave the country with two rather than the three to four he considered necessary, potentially for at least two years. The satellite had been expected to replace aging capacity, including AMOS-2.[17]

IAI chief executive Yossi Weiss described the loss as the culmination of years of work by hundreds of engineers and technicians. He said employees near the launch site were in shock and argued that communications satellites should be treated as a strategic national asset because Israel relied on satellite communications and undersea cables.[7] Contemporaneous reporting also noted that IAI had no further communications-satellite orders and described the future of that part of Israel’s space industry as uncertain, while distinguishing it from IAI’s continuing work on reconnaissance and other satellites.[6]

The available reporting differs on several technical and financial details. A 2012 IAI description called AMOS-6 a five-ton satellite,[8] while later reports gave masses of 5.2 and 5.5 tons.[9][10] Planned operating-life estimates included 15 years and at least 16 years.[11][4] Most accounts identify IAI as the builder, while one Times of Israel report attributes construction to Spacecom.[13][17] Launch planning also shifted: a 2012 report targeted 2015, while an October 2015 report anticipated an August 2016 launch.[8][5] An INSS table updated in January 2016 listed the planned launch year simply as 2016.[3]