Worldspace Satellite Radio received authorization from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch its Afristar-2 satellite, Worldspace announced Jan. 4.

Afristar-2, currently in storage in Toulouse, France, will be located at 21 degrees East and allow Worldspace to expand its services into Western Europe, the company said. The FCC also waived the requirement that Worldspace pay a $3 million bond, because the orbital location and frequencies for Afristar-2 are being used by Afristar-1.

“The FCC’s authorization is great news for us,” Worldspace Chairman Noah Samara said in a statement. “It removes any uncertainty about having a license to operate Afristar-2 and allows us to implement our European launch plan. This will give us expanded capacity to provide a focused satellite radio service to European markets in line with the company’s execution plans.”