Space Systems/Loral will build satellites for Telesat and EchoStar Corp. under contracts announced in separate press releases Dec. 30 by the manufacturer’s parent company, Loral Space and Communications of New York.
The Nimiq 6 satellite to be built for Ottawa-based Telesat has already been leased to Bell TV and will be used to provide direct-to-home television service in Canada, according to Loral, the majority shareholder of Telesat. The satellite will be equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders and be located at 91 degrees west longitude, Loral said. No launch date was provided.
The EchoStar 16 satellite being built for Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar also will be used for direct-to-home television broadcasting and is slated to launch in 2012, Loral said.
Both Nimiq 6 and EchoStar 16 will be based on Loral’s high-power SS/L 1300 platform, Loral said. The orders represent the sixth and seventh of the year for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer.
