WildBlue-1 Starts Pre-launch Preparations at Arianespace’s Spaceport

KOUROU, French Guiana, Nov. 13, 2006/Satnews Daily/ ― One of the world's first all Ka-band commercial satellites is now undergoing pre-launch checkout as WildBlue-1 is readied for Arianespace's December heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

WildBlue-1 arrived this week aboard an Antonov An-124 cargo jetliner, which landed at Cayenne's Rochambeau International Airport. After it was unloaded from the Ukrainian-built aircraft, the satellite was transferred to the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility.

The Space Systems/Loral-built satellite will provide direct two-way wireless Internet access to homes and small offices in areas of the contiguous United States where terrestrial broadband access alternatives are either limited or unavailable.

By using the Ka-band frequency, WildBlue-1 takes advantage of a portion of the radio spectrum with substantially more capacity than available in the Ku-band, which is more commonly used for satellite communications. Once in operation, the spacecraft will allow Colorado-based WildBlue Communications, Inc. to triple its customer capacity in the United States.

WildBlue-1 will be orbited along with SES Americom's AMC-18 telecommunications satellite on the final Ariane 5 heavy-lift mission of 2006 set for early December. This will be Arianespace's fifth dual-satellite Ariane 5 launch of the year.

Last week, the AMC-18 satellite made initial contact with launcher hardware as final pre-launch preparations began for the SES Americom payload.

AMC-18 was built in Sunnyvale, California by Lockheed Martin Commercial Satellite Systems, and is based on the company's A2100 spacecraft bus. After deployment, AMC-18 will operate from an orbital position of 105 deg. West.

AMC-18 is equipped with 24 C-band transponders and will provide cable television services to the 50 United States and the Caribbean. With a design life of 15-plus years, it will expand SES Americom’s fleet of satellites that distribute cable, television and radio broadcasts, telecommunications services, business television and broadband data throughout the Americas and transoceanic regions.

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