Arabsat Signs Contracts with EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space to Build Arabsat-5A and Badr-5
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 19, 2007 - Satnews Daily - The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), a leading Arab communications satellite operator, has signed a firm contract with EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space to build the first two of its fifth generation satellites, Arabsat-5A and Badr-5 (technically Arabsat-5B).
Complementary contracts were also signed for the launch of these two new satellites. Launch services will be provided by Arianespace and International Launch Services (ILS), between the third quarter of and the first quarter of 2010. The spacecraft will be launched by an Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, and on a Proton Breeze M vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Arabsat-5A, a multi-mission satellite, will take over from Arabsat-2B and provide additional capacity at 30.5º East for a large range of satellite communications services such as television backhauling and broadcasting, telephony, business communications, Internet trunking and the provision of VSAT and other interactive services, over sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) and beyond. A Eurostar E3000 model equipped with a payload featuring 24 active equivalent 36Mhz transponders in C-band and 36 in Ku-band,
Arabsat-5A will have a launch mass of 4,800kg and a spacecraft power of 11kW at the end of its 15-year designed lifetime. Badr-5 will be co-located with the rest of Arabsat's Badr constellation of Direct-To-Home satellites at its 26° East video "hot-spot", primarily providing full in-orbit back-up capacity both for Badr-4 and Badr-6 television services, now reaching an audience of 164 Million viewers, from Morocco to the Gulf, by far MENA's leading television neighborhood.
Covering a stretched zone encompassing the entire MENA region and beyond, Badr-5 will guarantee to Arabsat's core direct TV broadcasting customers a unique "hot" redundancy, the highest level ever in the region. Complementary missions will include supporting the expected boom of HDTV and, thanks to its Ka-band capacity, the development of new sophisticated interactive television services from broadcasters. -- Also a Eurostar E3000 model, equipped with a payload featuring 56 active transponders in Ku-band and Ka-band, Badr-5 will have a launch mass of 5,400 kg and a spacecraft power of 14kW at the end of its 15-year service lifetime.
The planned Arabsat fifth generation fleet will consist of three satellites with a total of 130 Ku-, C- and Ka- band transponders to be positioned at Arabsat’s three orbital locations, including the new 20° East. Its core missions will be to allow Arabsat to execute on its aggressive deployment strategy over the MENA markets and beyond by ensuring continued expansion in neighboring countries, and to provide services in the next 20 years, including those on Ka-band for specialized two-way services. A third spacecraft, Arabsat-5C, will be ordered in the coming months.
Astrium and Thales Alenia Space is building the satellites, and is responsible for delivering them in orbit. Astrium, the leading partner, will supply the two Eurostar E3000 platforms and integrate the satellites. Thales Alenia Space will design and build the communications payloads. The team will also upgrade the ground control segment for the extended Arabsat satellite fleet.
Arabsat President & CEO Khalid Balkheyour said Arabsat is extremely excited with the kick-off of its fifth generation program, which marks a key milestone in the deployment of Arabsat's long-term strategy to consolidate its leading position in the Arab world and expand aggressively with cutting-edge technologies coupled with the highest level of reliability. The introduction of the first-ever in orbit "hot" back-up in the MENA region, as well as Ka-band, will allow Arabsat to offer to customers an unprecedented level and unrivalled range of services, he added.
“Our partnership with Astrium and the Thales Alenia Space teams is not new and we are proud to renew it with two of our fifth generation satellites. We were impressed by their customer-oriented flexibility and the high professional level they've demonstrated both over the previous manufacturing campaigns and during this negotiation, and are looking forward to the successful completion of this program.”
While the first two fifth generation satellites are being built, Arabsat will launch Badr-6 in the second quarter of 2008. Badr-6 is Arabsat’s second fourth generation bird and was also built by a consortium of Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, and will be launched on an Ariane 5.
François Auque, speaking for Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, said they are delighted that the Arab Satellite Communications Organization Arabsat, and its Board of Directors, has placed its confidence in our company, Astrium and our partner Thales Alenia Space, for the manufacture and the delivery in orbit of their fifth generation satellites. “We are pleased to continue our support to Arabsat in the realization of this significant new step in the development of their successful business.”
ILS will launch the satellite, either Arabsat-5A or Badr-5, in the 2009-2010 timeframe on a Proton Breeze M vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ILS partner Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center builds the Proton in Russia.
"With the successful launch of Arabsat's Badr-4 satellite on a Proton last November, ILS is again honored to be selected to provide Arabsat launch capability to fuel continued growth in this exciting region," said ILS President Frank McKenna.
ILS has carried out 40 commercial launches on Proton since the joint venture with Khrunichev was formed in 1993. The Proton vehicle is Russia's premier heavy-lift launcher, and has carried out many historic missions in its 42 years of service.
ILS is a joint venture of Space Transport Inc., Khrunichev and RSC Energia. ILS is incorporated in Delaware in the United States, and is headquartered in McLean, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.
