Alcatel Signs
Contract For Express AM33 And AM44 Payload Modules
(17 September 2004) Alcatel has
signed a new contract with the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC)
to develop and deliver the payloads for the Express AM33 and AM44
communications satellites. The two payloads - electronic equipment which
specifies the satellite mission - will be manufactured in Alcatel Space's
Toulouse plant and then integrated into "Express-AM" platforms produced by NPO-
PM in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
The new Russian Express AM33
and AM44 communications satellites will carry C band, Ku band and L band
transponders. The spacecraft are designed to provide digital TV and radio
broadcasting, telephony, data transmission channels, videoconferencing services
and Internet access. The satellites will be also for VSAT networks across
Russia, CIS countries, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Alcatel Space has
extensive experience in the development of Russian spacecraft equipment. Three
RSCC "Express-A" satellites (A1R, A2, A3) and the new Russian Express AM11 and
AM22 communications satellites are equipped with payloads produced by Alcatel
Space. In August Alcatel Space delivered the Express AM2 satellite payload and
the AM3 payload is currently being shipped from Alcatel Space's facility in
Cannes to NPO-PM's factory.
During the contract signing ceremony,
Serge Tchuruk, Alcatel's CEO said: "This latest contract confirms our position
as a reference partner to the Russian Space industry for communications
satellites. At the end of this program, we shall have delivered eleven payloads
to NPO-PM for Russian and European telecommunication space programs."
Alcatel Space's collaboration with Russia started in the mid-1990s with Sesat
satellite construction for Eutelsat in co-operation with NPO-PM.
(source: Alcatel Space)
