Klick - TELE-satellite International Magazine

NEWS
E U R O P E
E U R O P E
Satellites Transmissions
Edited by
Branislav Pekic
EUTELSAT AND ABS REACH DEAL
ON ORBITAL POSITION
Eutelsat Communications and Asia Broadcast
Satellite (ABS) have signed a strategic agreement
for commercial cooperation at the 75 degrees
East orbital location. Eutelsat is collocating its
Eurobird 4 satellite at 75 degrees East with the
ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites operated by ABS.
This will add eight Ku-band transponders for the
Middle East, central Asia and Russia. Renamed
W75/ABS-1B, Eutelsat’s satellite will also provide
possible redundancy to customers until the
arrival of ABS-2, which is expected in 2012.
SES ORDERS FOUR NEW SATELLITES
SES has ordered four satellites in a deal from
Astrium worth €500 million. The new satellites
- Astra 2E, Astra 2F, Astra 2G and Astra 5B - are
intended to improve satellite television services in
Europe and boost development in Eastern Europe
and Africa. They will be located at two orbital positions
(28.2 and 31.5 degrees East) and will carry
Ku-and Ka-band payloads. The launch of the new
satellites should take place between 2012 and
2014, and each is expected to last for 15 years.
EUTELSAT W7 LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT
The W7 satellite of Eutelsat Communications
has been successfully launched into orbit on 24
November 2009 by a Proton Breeze M rocket
supplied by ILS. The satellite will be located at
36 degrees East where it will support expansion
of pay-TV platforms in Russia and across Africa.
It will also provide Eutelsat with the possibility
of expanding telecoms and data activity in a
vast region embracing Europe, the Middle East,
Africa and Central Asia. Collocated with W4,
Eutelsat’s new satellite will double resources at
the 36 degrees East location from January 2010.
THOR 6 SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED
Telenor Satellite Broadcasting’s new satellite,
Thor 6, has been successfully launched into orbit
by the Ariane 5 ECA launcher from the Guiana
Spaceport in Kourou. It will replace the Thor III
satellite at the 1° West orbital position, which is
set to retire in 2010, as well as provide additional
capacity for expansion. Thor 6 is equipped with
36 Ku-band transponders. 16 transponders will
be reserved for the Nordic countries and 20
transponders for Central and Eastern Europe.
MDA RECEIVES CONTRACT FOR
TWO EXPRESS SATELLITES
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA)
has signed a CAD 200 million (CAD) with the Russian
Radio Research and Development Institute
(NIIR) to provide advanced technology solutions
for the Express AM5 and Express AM6 satellites.
Scheduled to launch in 2012, the Express satellites
will provide digital TV, radio broadcasting, multimedia
services and mobile communications. MDA will
deliver the solutions by the first quarter of 2012.
N O R T H A M E R I C A
BOEING SHIPS DIRECTV12 TO LAUNCH SITE
The DIRECTV 12 satellite has been shipped to the
Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility in Kazakhstan
from where it will be launched in December
2009 aboard an International Launch Services
Proton/Breeze M rocket. DIRECTV 12 is the 11th
satellite Boeing has built for the DTH operator. It
will increase DIRECTV’s HD capacity by 50%, and
when combined with the DIRECTV 10 and 11 satellites
that launched in 2007 and 2008, will enable
DIRECTV to deliver 200 national and 1,500 local
HDTV channels to millions of U.S. households.
A S I A & P A C I F I C
AZERSPACE TO BE LAUNCHED IN 2011
Orbital Sciences Corporation has presented the
approved model of the national satellite Azerspace
during the Azerbaijani international exhibition
BakuTel-2009. Orbital Sciences Corporation
won the tender to create the Azerspace satellite.
The satellite, which will be used for TV, radio
and internet services, will cover Europe and
parts of Asia. According to the approved plan,
the Azerspace satellite will be launched into
orbit in 2011. Azerbaijan intends to use about
25% of the satellite capacity, and the rest will
be offered to operators in other countries.
CHINA TO LAUNCH APSTAR-7 SATELLITE
The APTSTAR-7 satellite built by Thales Alenia
Space will be sent into space by China’s Long
March 3B/E carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite
Launch Centre in south-western China
in the first half of 2012. The satellite, with a
designed life span of 15 years, will air live
TV and communications for Asia, the Middle
East, Australia Africa and parts of Europe.
SPACE COMMUNICATION RECEIVES
LOAN FOR AMOS 5 SATELLITE
Space Communication has secured a loan of up
to US$ 140 million from Migdal Insurance and
Financial Holdings and the Amitim pension funds
to partly cover purchase of the Amos 5 satellite.
Space Com said in a statement it would pay
back the loan and interest in instalments every
six months over six years starting in 2012. Space
Com agreed in 2008 to buy the communications
satellite for US$ 170 million from Russia-based
Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems but
has so far paid only US$ 50 million, which will be
put in orbit in 2011 for commercial operations.
PLDT SELLS SATELLITE BUSINESS
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT)
sold its subsidiary Mabuhay Satellite Corp. (MSC),
the first Philippine entity to own and operate a communications
satellite, to Asia Broadcast Holdings
(ABS), a Bermuda company engaged in the satellite
business. The MSC space centre is a satellite
communications facility providing full satellite
108 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2010 — www.TELE-satellite.com
operations, payload and client monitoring, tracking,
telemetry and control services for Aguila-2 satellite.
W O R L D
NSS-12 SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY
LAUNCHED
The NSS-12 satellite was successfully launched
into space by an Ariane 5 rocket from the European
Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 29 October
2009. NSS-12 was manufactured by Space
Systems/Loral and is poised to be the 41th satellite
in SES` global fleet. The spacecraft replaces NSS-
703 at 57 degrees East and covers virtually the
entire Eastern Hemisphere. NSS-12 features 40
C-band transponders and 48 Ku-band transponders
with DTH power levels, as well as elaborate beam
interconnectivity and C-/Ku-band cross-strapping.
INTELSAT TO BUY PROTOSTAR 1
SATELLITE FOR US$ 210 MILLION
Intelsat was selected in October 2009 as the
successful bidder at a bankruptcy auction for the
ProtoStar 1 satellite with an all cash offer of US$
210 million. Bermuda-based ProtoStar filed for
bankruptcy protection along with its five affiliates
in July and said it was looking to sell its satellites
through a court-supervised auction. ProtoStar was
formed in 2005 to launch and operate high-power
geostationary satellites to lease capacity to Asian
DTH satellite television and broadband service
providers. Upon conclusion of the deal, ProtoStar 1
will be re-named Intelsat 25. Launched in July 2008,
the satellite is expected to have a 16-year life span.
ATLAS V LAUNCHES INTELSAT 14
The Intelsat 14 telecommunications satellite was
launched on 23 November 2009 on an Atlas V
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
Built by Space Systems/Loral on a SS/L 1300
spacecraft bus, Intelsat 14 carries 40 C-band
and 22 Ku-band transponders, broadcasting via
four different beams. Set for deployment at 315
degrees East, where it will replace Intelsat’s IS-1R
satellite, Intelsat 14 has a 15-year design life.
INTELSAT 15 LAUNCHED BY SEA LAUNCH
Sea Launch has launched the Intelsat 15 satellite
using a Land Launch vehicle at the Baikonour
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 30 November 2009.
The Ku-band Intelsat 15 satellite, also known as IS-
15, was built by Orbital Sciences Corp. It will provide
video and data services from the 85 degrees East
orbital position, replacing Intelsat’s 709 satellite.
ATREXX OFFERS SATELLITE
CAPACITY TRADING PLATFORM
German service provider atrexx is offering a solution
to the problem of long-term capacity leases
and scarcity of capacity in certain regions. The
atrexx Trading Platform is a satellite marketplace,
designed to bring buyers and sellers of satellite
related resources and services together. The
Platform offers free registration to both parties.
Once registered, they are able to post their request
or their available services onto the platform. All
postings are publicly – yet anonymously - accessible
worldwide, to everyone with access to the
Internet. Updates are available by e-mail as well
as through Twitter tweets and RSS feeds.