Loral Skynet Signs Contract for Replacement Satellite for Telstar 11

HONOLULU, Jan. 18, 2006/Satnews Daily/ — Loral Skynet has contracted its sister company, Space Systems Loral, for a replacement satellite for its aging Telstar 11 satellite covering Europe and North America. Construction on the new satellite will begin in ten days, according to Loral Skynet CEO Patrick Brand, who spoke to Satnews Managing Editor, Virgil Labrador by phone from the Pacific Telecommunications Council conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The replacement satellite will be called Telstar 11N (the "N" stands for "new"). The original Telstar 11 was launched in 1995 and provides Ku-Band coverage across most of North America (except the West Coast) and Europe. The new replacement satellite will be covering Europe and Africa. Terms of the contract was not disclosed.

Much speculation has surrounded Loral Skynet's plans after it emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in November last year. Loral Skynet sold four domestic US Telstar satellites to Intelsat in March 2004 and as a result has a two-year non-compete clause with Intelsat in the satellite leasing business in the US.  The non-compete clause expires in March 17, 2006.  

“We have plans for North America, we cannot disclose details at this point, but it will take time but we expect to be a player in North America,” said Brant.

More detailed coverage of the interview with Brant will be appearing in the executive spotlight section of the February 2006 issue of SatMagazine (www.satmagazine.com).

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