INTELSAT today announced that it has finalized an agreement to purchase an all Ku-band satellite that will be used to create a new orbital role at 85°E. SINOSAT, the Chinese satellite operator, has acquired rights to use six transponders on this satellite during the entire orbital maneuver life of the satellite, which will be manufactured by Astrium SAS of Toulouse, France. China Great Wall Industry Corp. is scheduled to launch the spacecraft, which will be known as the INTELSAT APR-3 satellite, in the Spring of 2002. As part of this arrangement, SINOSAT also has acquired rights to use two C-band transponders on the INTELSAT satellite at the 178*E location, scheduled to be operational by October 2003.
Cheng Guangren, SINOSAT’s President, stated, "We are very pleased to establish this strategic relationship with INTELSAT. INTELSAT was quick to understand the growing demands of our market, and demonstrated great support in customizing coverage of the satellite beam to meet our requirements. This additional high quality capacity will help us meet the growing needs of our customers."
"This relationship represents the type of innovative solution that helps build success for our customers," said Conny Kullman, INTELSAT CEO. "The new orbital role at 85*E will provide SINOSAT with coverage to meet its increasing demands for domestic service. It will also give INTELSAT strategic landmass coverage of China, Russia, India and the Middle East. Further, with launch scheduled by Spring of 2002, this deal represents an extremely quick time to market for the design, manufacture and delivery of a new spacecraft, demonstrating INTELSAT’s flexibility and responsiveness to customer needs." Kullman continued.
The primary applications for the new satellite will include corporate VSAT networks, video distribution to cable head-ends, and Internet connections to ISPs.
INTELSAT currently has ten satellites on order (seven INTELSAT IXs, two Xs and the INTELSAT APR-3) which it plans to launch over the next three years. INTELSAT is an international communications provider that offers Internet, broadcast, telephony and corporate network solutions around the globe through its fleet of 19 satellites. For nearly four decades, many of the world’s leading telecommunications companies, multinational corporations and broadcasters in more than 200 countries and territories have relied on INTELSAT satellites and staff for quality connections, global reach and unrivaled reliability. For further information about this release, please contact us at media.relations@intelsat.int or at +1 202-944-7500
