GE American Communications, has selected Arianespace to launch two additioanal GeoSats. GE-4, will be launched on an Ariane 4 before year-end. For the second GE Americom will fly on the new Ariane 5 heavy-lift launcher on a mission that is scheduled sometime after 2001.
These new missions reinforce Arianespace's business relationship with GE Americom, and further strengthen the commercial launch services company's competitive position in North America.
GE Americom has entrusted eight of its satellites to Arianespace, beginning with Satcom C1 – which was launched in 1990. Three others subsequently have been launched by Arianespace, and two more – GE-7 and GE-8 – are slated for Ariane 5 or Ariane 4 flights in 2000.
"Once again, our availability and flexibility were the decisive factors," Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Marie Luton said in commenting on this major business win.
"Customers know they can count on the European launcher to ensure their access to space. We enable our customers to deal with the unexpected events that are part and parcel of the space transportation industry. These latest contracts prove Arianespace's ability to quickly meet the commercial needs of telecom operators worldwide," added Luton.
The GE-4 satellite will be boosted into geostationary transfer orbit by an Ariane 44LP version of the workhorse Ariane 4 family. It will be launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana this November or December.
GE-4 was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California, using an A2100 platform. Weighing 3,900 kg. (8,580 lb.) at liftoff, it will be positioned at 101 deg. West over the Gulf of Mexico.
The satellite will provide C and Ku-band telecommunications services for the entire North American continent, from Canada to Mexico, as well as Ku-band services for South America.
With these two satellites – the eighth and ninth booked so far in 1999 – Arianespace's backlog now stands at 42 satellites to be launched, worth a total of 3.1 milliard euros ($ 3.5 billion).
