World's Largest
Commercial Satellite Achieves Key Milestone
(28 April 2008) Space Systems/Loral
and ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited today announced the successful
deployment of the ICO G1 satellite's large antenna reflector on Saturday, April
26.
ICO G1 is a Loral designed spacecraft that incorporates a 12
meter antenna reflector designed and built by Harris Corporation. The reflector
utilises a gold-plated mesh reflective surface and a unique new Harris design
that allows a very large antenna reflector to stow safely and easily on the
Loral 1300 satellite platform. The reflector size enables the increased
performance typically required for mobile interactive media
services.
ICO G1 is the largest commercial satellite launched to date,
weighing nearly 15,000 pounds at lift-off, and measuring more than 27 feet high
and over 100 feet wide, following solar array deployment.
On April 14,
ICO successfully launched ICO G1, a geosynchronous satellite covering the
United States. ICO G1 is specifically designed to deliver services to mobile
users, and is the first commercial satellite to utilise a ground-based beam
forming system, which allows for unprecedented flexibility in the technology it
is capable of supporting. ICO is developing a mobile interactive media service,
ICO mim , which features mobile video, interactive navigation and emergency
communications services to consumers. Alpha trials for ICO mim will take place
later in 2008 in Raleigh-Durham, NC and Las Vegas, NV.
"ICO G1 has
performed flawlessly since our successful launch on April 14, 2008 and the
Loral mission team has done a superb job. The solar panels deployed as planned
and are producing proper current. The orbit raising was nominal and G1 is now
on station at 92.85 degrees West Longitude in geosynchronous orbit," according
to Bob Day, ICO senior vice president, space systems. "Last week, we deployed
the 2.4 m Ka-band reflector and on Saturday, we successfully deployed the 12
meter reflector for the S-band antenna. We are on schedule and expect to make
certification to the FCC by May 15, 2008 that ICO G1 is
operational."
"We are very pleased to report on the performance of ICO
G1 to date," said John Celli, president and chief operating officer of Space
Systems/Loral. "The successful deployment of the unfurlable reflector is the
result of a very close team effort between SS/L, ICO and
Harris."
(source: Space Systems/Loral)
