PARIS — Com Dev International of Canada will provide on-board electronics gear, including switches and filters, for an unidentified commercial Ka-band satellite in a contract that starts at $1 million and likely will end up valued at $8 million, the Cambridge, Ontario-based company announced April 16.
Com Dev said the satellite will provide coverage of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, which is a description that could fit the Jabiru-1 spacecraft under construction for startup satellite operator NewSat of Australia.
Jabiru-1 is being built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif., and is scheduled for launch in late 2014 aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket.
NewSat has said it will be applying for loan backing from the U.S. and French export-credit agencies for the Jabiru-1 project, which NewSat views as the first of several satellites it will be launching in the coming years, all or most using Ka-band spectrum.
NewSat said April 16 that it had raised a further 7.5 million Australian dollars ($7.8 million) in equity to help finance the construction of Jabiru-1, following 20 million Australian dollars in new equity announced in February. NewSat said it expects Jabiru-1 to be fully financed before the end of the year.
