Boeing [NYSE: BA] and MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd (MEASAT) announced today that the MEASAT-3 communications satellite has been shipped from the Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, Calif., to the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it will be readied for a December launch aboard an International Launch Services Proton/Breeze M rocket.
The Boeing 601 HP satellite was manufactured for MEASAT by Boeing Satellite Systems International and will join the existing MEASAT-1 and MEASAT-2 satellites to expand the MEASAT satellite fleet providing coverage over the wider Asia-Pacific region to direct-to-home, broadcasting and telecommunications customers. Boeing also has provided upgrades to the MEASAT Teleport and Broadcasting Center located just outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The shipment of MEASAT-3 represents another key milestone toward enabling MEASAT to provide services capable of reaching customers in more than 100 countries,” said Stephen T. O’Neill, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc. “With the addition of the third Boeing-built satellite to MEASAT’s existing fleet, Boeing technology will serve an area that represents two-thirds of the world’s population.”
MEASAT-3 will be co-located with MEASAT-1 at 91.5 degrees East longitude. It will provide 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band high powered transponders, each providing 36 MHz of bandwidth over a 15-year service life. MEASAT-3’s C-band payload will provide service over a region, including Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, representing 70 percent of the world’s population. The Ku-band payload has been designed to provide high-powered, flexible service options for the development direct-to-home applications across Malaysia, Indonesia and South Asia.
