Jun 10 2005
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) today announced that the iPSTAR-1 satellite has arrived at the Arianespace spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, and is undergoing preparations for launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on July 7. Weighing in with a launch weight of 14,341 pounds (6505 kilograms), iPSTAR-1 will be the heaviest commercial satellite ever delivered to geosynchronous orbit.
"iPSTAR-1 is one of the largest and most technologically advanced satellites ever built for a commercial customer," said C. Patrick DeWitt, president of Space Systems/Loral. "SS/L's 1300 platform is becoming an industry standard when it comes to developing highly-powered satellites for direct-to-user applications like broadband access. We're pleased to be working with Shin on this important project and look forward to the satellite's launch next month."
Built for Shin Satellite, Plc of Thailand, iPSTAR-1 is designed to provide both enterprises and consumers throughout Asia, Australia and New Zealand with various levels of Internet access services, competing with cable modems and digital subscriber lines (DSL).
iPSTAR-1 has a massive total data throughput capacity of over 40 Gbps. The satellite will provide users with data speeds of up to eight Mbps on the forward link and four Mbps on the return link. From its 119.5 degrees East longitude orbital position, iPSTAR-1 will use its seven on-board antennas to create 112 spot and regional beams in the Ku and Ka frequency bands. The satellite will generate 14 kW of electrical power throughout its planned 12- year service life.
Shin Satellite, a turnkey satellite operator, provides C- and Ku-band transponder leasing, teleport and other value-added and engineering services to users in Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. Shin Satellite owns and operates Thaicom 1A, located at 120 degrees East, and Thaicom 2 and 3, co- located at 78.5 degrees East. The satellites carry a total of 49 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders offering over 70 channels. Thaicom is the Hotbird for Indochina and India, an emerging platform of choice for transcontinental satellite television broadcasts from Europe to Australia. The company has spent years researching and developing new technology to make Internet via satellite more efficient, thus reducing costs and improving the service to end-users.
Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (OTC Bulletin Board: LRLSQ), is a premier designer, manufacturer, and integrator of powerful satellites and satellite systems. SS/L also provides a range of related services that include mission control operations and procurement of launch services. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company has an international base of commercial and governmental customers whose applications include broadband digital communications, direct-to-home broadcast, defense communications, environmental monitoring, and air traffic control. SS/L satellites have amassed more than 1,200 years of reliable on-orbit service. SS/L is ISO 9001:2000 certified. For more information, visit http://www.ssloral.com.
Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. In addition to Space Systems/Loral, through its Skynet subsidiary Loral owns and operates a fleet of telecommunications satellites used to broadcast video entertainment programming, and for broadband data transmission, Internet services and other value-added communications services.