Hosted Payloads | Intelsat

Intelsat’s hosted payloads leverage commercial satellites to gain economical and timely access to space. By placing your payload on our spacecraft, you can meet specific government or scientific needs for communications, space situational awareness, Earth observation, national defense, remote sensing, and more.

The Outsourcing Wave Reaches Space

Intelsat is the leader in delivering commercial and government payloads to space aboard our satellites, starting with the Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) demonstration program for the U.S. Department of Defense. We also launched a hosted payload for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) aboard our Intelsat 22 satellite. ADF officials estimated that using a hosted payload instead of launching their own satellite saved Australian taxpayers $150 million over the life of the spacecraft.

Hosted Examples

Because of our extensive global fleet, we always have several replacement satellites in the planning stages, allowing you to take advantage of our launch schedule and our range of orbit locations. Over the years our hosted payloads have included:

NASA TEMPO

The LEASAT Program

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Australian Defence Force (ADF)

Internet Routing in Space (IRIS)

In addition to applications such as communications, space situational awareness, Earth observation, national defense or remote sensing, hosted payloads are also ideal for technology demonstrations and offer a number of advantages over launching a dedicated spacecraft, including:

Reduced timelines and rapid access to space
Shared operations, development and launch
Significant cost savings
Risk reduction
Various levels of payload command and control through Intelsat TT&C ground facilities or from a government facility using an encrypted link

Speed

From conception to launch, the hosted payload timeline is significantly faster and more efficient than the average timeline to procure a dedicated satellite.

Expertise

Leverage our experience and oversight across design and construction, payload integration, testing and monitoring. Enjoy various levels of command and control through our TT&C ground facilities or from a government facility using an encrypted link.

Cost Sharing and Savings

The cost to launch a satellite, coordinate ground infrastructure, manage de-orbit operations, etc. can be prohibitive for most companies.

Sustainability

Hosted payloads reduce the number of satellites in space, contributing to space sustainability.

How do Hosted Payloads Work?

Hosted payloads offer a means for customers to leverage an Intelsat satellite bus to gain access to geosynchronous orbit. A satellite bus (also called a spacecraft bus) is a general model on which multiple production satellite spacecraft are often based.