Baikonur, Thursday 18 Septembre 2008 – The Russian space centre in Baikonur is preparing for the Proton Breeze M launch of Nimiq 4. This is the third Eurostar E3000 satellite made by Astrium for Telesat Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world, Telesat is the fourth largest fixed satellite services operator. The company provides reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. The launch is planned for 19 September, at 23:48 CET.
Nimiq 4 was designed to provide high definition television (HDTV), specialty television and foreign language programming in North America. It will feature 32 active high-power transponders in Ku-band and 8 in Ka-band. Its multi-spot Ka-band payload will provide coverage of the most densely populated regions of Canada. Nimiq 4 is based on Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 satellite platform, 25 of which have been ordered so far with 12 already in orbit.
The satellite has a solar array span of 39 metres once deployed in orbit and spacecraft power of 12kW at end of life. From its geostationary orbital location at 82*W it will provide commercial services for a minimum of 15 years.
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2007, Astrium had a turnover of O3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007, EADS generated revenues of O39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116, 000.
