Facebook Launches Israeli-Made Satellite To Bring Internet to More of Africa

By JTA October 6, 2015

Facebook will launch an Israeli-made satellite to bring Internet access to sub-Saharan Africa.

The AMOS-6 satellite is being built by Israel Aerospace Industries and will be operated by the Israeli company Spacecom, in partnership with Eutelsat Communications of France.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the partnership with Eutelsat to launch the satellite on his Facebook page on Monday.

The satellite, which is expected to operate for 16 years, is set to launch in 2016, Zuckerman said.

The satellite costs about $300 million and Spacecom is expected to earn about $100 million from the deal, according to Reuters.

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