Space Systems Loral has been awarded a contract to build two additional high-power satellites for the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat).
Under the terms of the contract, SS/L will build and deliver
Intelsat 903 and 904 in March and July, 2001, respectively. The
satellites, to be launched aboard Ariane launch vehicles, will
provide voice/data and video service over the Atlantic Ocean Region
(AOR), providing services to North America, South America, Europe,
Africa, Greenland and Iceland.
Intelsat 901 and 902 are currently under construction by SS/L and
are scheduled to be delivered in the summer and late fall of 2000,
respectively. They will provide service over the Indian Ocean Region
(IOR).
Each of the four satellites in the Intelsat IX series being built
by SS/L will operate 44 transponders in the C-band and 12
transponders in the Ku-band. The satellites will carry a
significantly greater percentage of high-power amplifiers and solar
array power than any previous Intelsat series. The satellites, based
on Space Systems/Loral's standard three-axis spacecraft, will have a
mission life in excess of 13 years.
SS/L has been the prime contractor on several previous Intelsat
programs including Intelsat V, Intelsat VII, and Intelsat VIIA.
SS/L currently has a total backlog of more than 80 spacecraft. In addition to building Intelsat satellites, the company is the prime contractor for the Globalstar(TM) low-earth-orbit satellite system and the builder of
APSTAR IIR, N-STAR, Agila 2, Telstar, M2A and CHINASAT communications
satellites; audio radio satellites for CD Radio; direct broadcast
satellites for TCI/Tempo, MCI, PanAmSat and L-STAR; the latest series
of weather-watch satellites, GOES (Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite) and the Japanese MTSAT, the next-generation
Japanese air traffic control and weather-watch satellite.
