Intelsat 40e / TEMPO

Intelsat 40e/TEMPO [Maxar]

Intelsat 40e/TEMPO is a high-throughput geostationary communications satellite for Intelsat, which will provide Intelsat customers across North and Central America with flexible, high-throughput, “coast-to-coast” coverage.

Space Systems/Loral announced in February 2020 that it has been awarded a contract to provide a new satellite to Intelsat. The satellite is built on the SSL-1300 platform and carries a high throughput C-, Ku, and Ka-band payload for Intelsat's Epic system. The satellite will use both electric and chemical propulsion for orbit raising and will be operated with all-electric propulsion on orbit.

Additionally, the satellite hosts NASA's TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) earth observation payload. TEMPO is a UV-visible spectrometer that will detect pollutants by measuring sunlight reflected and scattered from the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. The resulting data from TEMPO will be used to enhance air-quality forecasts in North America, enabling the more effective early public warning of pollution incidents.