June 6th, 2006 – EADS Astrium and ARABSAT, the communications satellite operator based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have signed a contract for the construction of the BADR-6 (‘Full Moon’) satellite. Scheduled to enter service in 2008, BADR-6 will provide communications services over a wide area encompassing the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, from Morocco to the Gulf, and a large part of sub-Saharan Africa. It is the fifth communications satellite contract awarded to EADS Astrium since the beginning of 2006.
EADS Astrium will build the satellite as prime contractor and will be responsible for launch and early operations as part of an in-orbit delivery contract. EADS Astrium has already developed the Satellite Control Centres in Dirab (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and in Tunis (Tunisia) to control the ARABSAT satellite fleet. The communications payload will be supplied by Alcatel Alenia Space.
BADR-6 has a launch mass of 3.4 tons, a solar array span of 32 meters once deployed in orbit, and payload power of about 6 kW. As with the two satellites already built by EADS Astrium for ARABSAT, BADR-6 is based on the E2000+ version of the highly successful Eurostar communications satellite series. BADR-6 will provide commercial services for a minimum of 15 years.
Equipped with 20 transponders in Ku-band and 24 transponders in C-band, it will offer the highest downlink power level and the widest coverage over the in both bands across the Arab world. Joining ARABSAT’s constellation of BADR satellites at 26° East prime video position, it will provide media groups in the Arab and neighbouring regions with unparalleled satellite broadcast services for direct-to-home television in both bands, the latest interactive TV applications and internet broadband direct-access services. It will also provide enough extra capacity to accommodate the anticipated boom in demand for HDTV in the Middle East and North Africa in the coming years.
Eng. Khalid Balkheyour, ARABSAT’s President and CEO, commented: “With its fast-track delivery schedule, this decision ensures that our customers operating at ARABSAT’s 26°East primary TV “Hot Spot” will continue to receive from us in the next 20 years the highest levels of reliability and performance for state-of-the-art television and telecommunications services such as HD-TV, DVB-S2, DTT, 3G, etc. that we have been consistently delivering to them over the last thirty years of operations. Moreover, it will guarantee to our Broadcasters, for the long-term, full technical stability with the best ever conditions available in the MENA region to deliver their programming to our growing audience of 130 Million viewers.”
EADS Astrium CEO Antoine Bouvier declared: “I am delighted that ARABSAT has reaffirmed its trust in EADS Astrium by the award of this contract. We welcome this new opportunity to work together again in a spirit of continued cooperation, and mark a new step in the development of ARABSAT’s business.”
EADS Astrium is Europe’s leading satellite system specialist. Its activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and Earth observation systems, science and navigation programmes, and all spacecraft avionics and equipment.
EADS Astrium is a subsidiary of EADS SPACE. In 2005 EADS SPACE had a turnover of €2.7 billion and 11,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2005, EADS generated revenues of €34.2 billion and employed a workforce of more than 113,000.
Contacts for the media:
Remi Roland, EADS SPACE +33 (0) 1 42 24 27 34
Jeremy Close, EADS SPACE (UK) +44 (0) 1 438 77 38 72
