Space Systems Loral (SSL), a leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that it has been selected to build a powerful, high throughput communications satellite for Telesat, one of the world’s top satellite operators. The new spacecraft, called Telstar 19 VANTAGE, will have two high throughput payloads, one in Ku-band and the other in Ka-band, to serve growing markets in Latin America, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and Northern Canada.
“SSL and Telesat have a long history of working together to expand the availability of satellite communications,” said John Celli, president of SSL. “We are honored to have the opportunity to build Telstar 19 VANTAGE and look forward to continuing our successful collaboration.”
Telstar 19 VANTAGE will be the second of a new generation of Telesat satellites optimized to serve the types of bandwidth intensive applications increasingly being used across the satellite industry. Hughes Network Systems LLC (Hughes) has made a significant commitment to utilize the satellite’s high throughput Ka-band capacity in South America to expand its broadband satellite services, as announced previously. Telstar 19 VANTAGE will also offer additional high throughput Ka-band capacity over Northern Canada, the Caribbean and the North Atlantic Ocean, along with high throughput and conventional Ku-band capacity in South America and the North Atlantic Ocean.
“SSL has long been a key technology partner for Telesat and we are very pleased to be working with them on the Telstar 19 VANTAGE program,” said Dan Goldberg, president and chief executive officer of Telesat. “Telesat and SSL engineers have developed a highly innovative spacecraft design for Telstar 19 VANTAGE that will bring HTS capacity in both Ku and Ka-band to growing markets across the Americas, giving our customers important competitive advantages in implementing their broadband satellite networks.”
The satellite, which will be located at 63o West longitude, is based on the highly reliable SSL 1300 platform, which provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. Nearly half of the satellites in the Telesat fleet were built by SSL.
About Telesat (www.telesat.com)
Telesat is a leading global satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions worldwide to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world, the Company’s state-of-the-art fleet consists of 15 satellites, including the newly launched Telstar 12 VANTAGE, plus the Canadian payload on ViaSat-1 with a new satellite under construction. Telesat also manages the operations of additional satellites for third parties. Privately held, Telesat’s principal shareholders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL).
About SSL
SSL, a subsidiary of MDA, is a leading provider of commercial satellites with broad expertise to support satellite operators and innovative space related missions. The company designs and manufactures spacecraft for services such as direct-to-home television, video content distribution, broadband Internet, mobile communications, and Earth observation. As a Silicon Valley innovator for more than 50 years, SSL’s advanced product line also includes state-of-the-art small satellites, and sophisticated robotics and automation solutions for remote operations. For more information, visit www.sslmda.com.
About MDA
MDA is a global communications and information company providing operational solutions to commercial and government organizations worldwide.
MDA’s business is focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, primarily in the Communications sector and the Surveillance and Intelligence sector. In addition, the Company conducts a significant amount of advanced technology development.
MDA’s established global customer base is served by more than 4,800 employees operating from 11 locations in the United States, Canada, and internationally.
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.’s (MDA) common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “MDA.”
Related Websites
www.mdacorporation.com
