ILS to Launch
5th-Generation Satellite for Arabsat
(17 June 2007) International Launch
Services (ILS) announced today it has been selected to launch a
fifth-generation satellite for Arabsat.
ILS will launch the
satellite, either Arabsat-5A or BADR-5, in the 2009-2010 timeframe on a Proton
Breeze M vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ILS partner
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre builds the Proton in
Russia.
A consortium of EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space is building
the satellites and is responsible for delivering the satellites in orbit. EADS
Astrium will supply the Eurostar E3000 platforms and integrate the satellites.
Thales Alenia Space will design and build the communications
payloads.
"With the successful launch of Arabsat's BADR-4 satellite on a
Proton last November, ILS is again honoured to be selected to provide Arabsat
launch capability to fuel continued growth in this exciting region," said ILS
President Frank McKenna.
ILS has carried out 40 commercial launches on
Proton since the joint venture with Khrunichev was formed in 1993. The Proton
vehicle is Russia's premier heavy-lift launcher, and has carried out many
historic missions in its 42 years of service.
Arabsat-5A will have a
launch mass of 4,800 kg. The multi-payload satellite will replace Arabsat-2B,
which is reaching the end of its service life. Arabsat-5A will provide
additional capacity for a comprehensive range of satellite communications
services over sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, and
beyond.
BADR-5 will have a launch mass of 5,400 kg. It will primarily
provide full in-orbit backup capacity for BADR-4 and BADR-6 television
services. Complementary missions include supporting the expected boom of HDTV
and, thanks to its Ka-band capacity, the development of sophisticated
interactive services.
About Arabsat
Backed by the 21-member
countries of the Arab League, and with its 30-year heritage of continuous
operations, Arabsat offers the Arab world an unrivalled range of
satellite-based communications services such as direct-to-home television and
radio, telephony, Internet and direct broadband access, as well as the
provision of VSATs and other interactive services. Arabsat is the only
qualified organisation in the Middle East North Africa with a fully integrated
fleet of satellites operating on most frequency bands, and encompassing within
a single beam the whole region from Morocco to the Gulf and beyond and a large
part of sub-Saharan Africa.
About ILS
ILS is a joint venture of
Space Transport Inc., Khrunichev and RSC Energia. ILS is incorporated in
Delaware in the United States, and is headquartered in McLean, Va., a suburb of
Washington, D.C.
(source: International Launch Services)