Buenos Aires, October 2 (MERCOPRESS-RHC)-- Argentina has launched the ARSAT-2 spacecraft from a site in French Guyana, with the goal of providing telecommunication services across much of the Western hemisphere. 

ARSAT (Argentine Satellite Solutions), a state-owned company created in 2006, monitored the launch and operation of ARSAT-2 from the Benavídez Ground Station in northern Buenos Aires province.

This satellite is the second in the ARSAT project, following the launch of ARSAT-1 in October last year that saw Argentina join the United States, China, Russia, Japan, Israel, India and the European Union in the list of countries that have built and managed geostationary satellite programs autonomously.

Also on Wednesday Arianespace, the satellite launcher from French Guiana, announced the signature of a contract with ARSAT for a third operation and options until 2023.

ARSAT-2 weighs over three tons, and will allow the Argentine space telecommunications program that began with ARSAT-1 to provide countries in the Western hemisphere with direct-to-home television (DTH), Internet services, telephony and data transmission, among other uses.

“The fact that we have launched two satellites, made in Argentina, and put them into Argentina's orbital positions, shows that we can achieve what was once a dream and is now a reality,” said Matías Bianchi Villelli, president of the state-owned company ARSAT.

Roughly $250 million was invested into the design and construction of ARSAT2, made entirely in Argentina by state-owned companies ARSAT and INVAP.

This new Argentine telecommunications satellite will have coverage over much of the Americas, from the Falklands Islands to as far north as the United States.