Inmarsat plc (LSE:ISAT.L), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, announces the contract signed with International Launch Services (ILS) for the launch of three Inmarsat-5 satellites in 2013-14 by Proton launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Eutelsat has selected Astrium, Europe’s leading space company, to design and manufacture a new telecommunications satellite Eutelsat 3B. The satellite will have 51 C, Ku and Ka-band transponders and provide video, data, Internet and telecom services across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South America, notably Brazil from Eutelsat's 3°E location in geostationary orbit. It is based on Astrium’s highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform and scheduled for launch in early 2014.
The ILS Proton Breeze M launched from Pad 39 at the Cosmodrome at 5:16 a.m. today local time (7:16 p.m. EDT, 11:16 GMT on July 15, 1:16 a.m CET on July 16). After an 8-hour, 1-minute mission, the Breeze M successfully released the SES-3 satellite directly into geostationary transfer orbit. The KazSat-2 satellite, built by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev), was delivered directly into geosynchronous orbit after a 9-hour, 24-minute mission.
Telenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc) announced that it has signed a contract with Arianespace for launch services of Thor 7 satellite from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana in Q4, 2013 on an Ariane 5 launcher.
