Posted: Wed, Dec 31, 2014, 7:55 AM ET (1255 GMT)
SpaceX has won a contract to launch a satellite for a Qatari company in late 2016, the companies announced Sunday. SpaceX will launch the Es'hail 2 satellite on a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket in 2016 from Cape Canaveral. The satellite, being built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. for Es'hailSat, will weigh 5,300 kilograms and provide communications services from 26 degrees east in GEO. Es'hailSat's first satellite was launched in 2013 on an Ariane 5, but Arianespace reportedly had no capacity on upcoming Ariane 5 launches to accommodate Es'hail 2 before the end of 2016.
