10 June 2026 British satellite operator Avanti Communications announced the sale of its youngest payload, Hylas-3, to the Japanese company Sky Perfect JSAT.
For reference: Avanti Communications is a major British satellite operator, which provides broadband Internet and data services in Europe, in the Middle East and Africa (EMEA region).
Sky Perfect JSAT is the largest satellite operator in Asia and Japan's leading media company. It ranks fifth in the world in terms of the size of the satellite fleet among commercial operators.
Hylas-3 (Ka-band), Running in 2019 year at the position of 31° east longitude, served Europe, Middle East, Africa and part of Asia. It is carried on the satellite with the European Data Relay System EDRS-C payload. After the sale, the Avanti payload will be renamed JSAT-144D and relocated for better coverage of Asia. The deal will increase the Sky Perfect JSAT GEO fleet to 18 satellites (three more are at the implementation stage).
For Avanti, the sale of Hylas-3 ends a period of active debt expansion in geostationary orbit. The company is moving from large investments in its own satellites to partnerships. Hylas-3 was supposed to help expand the broadband market, but due to launch delays, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased competition from LEO groups (including Starlink) his role has diminished.
Avanti continues to operate the old Hylas-1 satellites (2010) ta Hylas-2 (2012), and is also working on integrating its GEO services with Telesat Lightspeed's future LEO network.
Source: https://spacenews.com