Yahsat 1B now set to launch on April 24

Yahsat 1B, the second of Abu Dhabi-based Yahsat's high-capacity satellites, is now set to launch on April 24.
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The launch will take place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, after it was postponed due to two other failed launch attempts. It had originally been scheduled for launch in February.
 
The Proton M launch vehicle, utilising a five-burn Breeze M mission design, will lift off from Pad 39.
 
Upon launch, the Y1B satellite will form the second stage of Yahsat's integrated satellite communications system, which includes the Y1A satellite, which was successfully launched in April 2011 from the European Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.
 
The integrated Ka-band system, which has been designed by the industrial team of EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, will provide satellite communications services for both government and commercial customers across the Middle-East, Africa, Europe and South West Asia.
 
It will offer a wide portfolio of voice, data, video and internet connectivity solutions designed to accommodate the demand for emerging applications in the satellite industry including satellite broadband, HDTV and various other satellite services.
 
These will include the broadband internet YahClick service.