B-Sat Awards Lockheed Contract for A2100 Small-Class Satellite

Lockheed Martin’s A2100 satellite. (Lockheed Martin photo)

NEWTOWN, Pa., May 19, 2005/Satnews Daily/ — Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has signed a contract with the Broadcasting Satellite System Corp. (B-SAT) of Japan to build its next geostationary telecommunications satellite. Designated BSAT-3a, the 1.8-kW satellite will provide direct broadcast services throughout Japan following its scheduled launch the second quarter of 2007. 

Contract terms were not disclosed. B-SAT previously issued an authorization to proceed to Lockheed Martin for start of satellite design and construction. 

Lockheed said the BSAT-3a communications payload comprises eight 130-W Ku-band channels and will be located at 110 degrees East longitude. With a design life of more than 13 years, BSAT-3a is based on Lockheed’s A2100A platform. According to Lockheed, BSAT-3a is the 12th contract awarded in the 1- to 4-kW small-class satellite range and the second in 2005.

“BSAT-3a is a very important satellite for the direct broadcasting (DBS) program in Japan, which has a large subscriber base of around 17million," said B-Sat president Tatsuo Gunji.”

BSAT-3A is the third satellite award for Lockheed this year based on signed construction contracts. In January, Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB) awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build their next geostationary direct broadcast satellite, designated Sirius 4. SES Americom recently awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build AMC-18, a small-class satellite also based on the A2100A.

Lockheed’s A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band, high-power direct broadcast services. It uses the Ku-band frequency spectrum and mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band, and S-band payloads. Lockheed said the A2100's modular design features a reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost.

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