08-09 - TELE-satellite International Magazine

SATELLITE INFORMATION
New Satellites to be launched soon
ARABSAT 5A
Edited by
Aleksandar Medic
This C-band multi-mission satellite will be
launched on a Proton Breeze M vehicle from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It
will be located on 30.5° East and replace the old
ARABSAT 2B satellite. It will have 26 C-band (16
normal + 10 in the so-called Appendix 30B) and
24 (12+12) Ku-band transponders. The satellite
will be built and delivered in orbit by a joint team
of Astrium and Thales Alenia Space. Astrium, as
the leading partner, will supply the platforms and
integrate the satellites. Thales Alenia Space will
design and build the communications payloads.
The team will also upgrade the ground control
segment for the extended ARABSAT satellite
fleet. ARABSAT 5A is an Eurostar E3000 model
satellite with a launch mass of 4,800 kg and a
spacecraft power of 11kW at the end of its 15year
service lifetime. It will be capable of serving
the entire Africa and Middle East (MEA) regions,
as well as most of Central Asia with a large range
of communications services such as television
backhauling and broadcasting, telephony, business
communications, Internet trunking and the
provision of VSAT and other interactive services.
New Satellites
AMC-5R
This SES-Americom satellite has been
built by Orbital Sciences Corporation on
the Star-2.4 Bus platform and will replace
AMC-5 at the 281.0° East (79.0° West) orbital
position. It has 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band
transponders that will serve the Continental
United States and portions of the Carribean.
Six of the channels in each band can be
cross-strapped to the opposite band, allowing
signals to be transmitted to the satellite in one
frequency and received in the other, giving
customers added flexibility while enabling new
service developments and enhancements.
The bird has a launch mass of 3,152 kg,
approximately 5 kW of payload power
and a mission life of 15 years.
INTELSAT 16
INTELSAT 16, the new satellite with 24 Ku-band
transponders will occupy 302.0° East (58.0°
West) orbital position. The satellite employs
Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Star-2.4 Bus and
will be launched from Baikonur cosmodrome
on the Proton Breeze M vehicle. The satellite
has a lifetime of 15 years and a mass of 2,5
tons. It will provide high power Ku-band
capacity for DTH services in Latin America and
serve as a complement to the INTELSAT 9.
104 TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic — 08-09/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com