Intelsat General Corp. has been contracted by Artel to reposition one of its satellites to orbit the Indian Ocean region to support U.S. military operations.

Intelsat was contracted by Artel under a deal with the Defense Department's Defense Information Systems Network Satellite Transmission Services-Global program. As part of the DSTS-G contract, Intelsat moved one of its domestic satellites to an orbital location in the Indian Ocean region to support the escalation of unmanned aerial vehicle surveillane opers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kay Sears, Intelsat General president, stated, "This is the third time we have been able to reposition one of our satellites into a new orbital location to support critical operations on the ground in these two vital regions. Moving this satellite to the Indian Ocean region will prevent the disruption of a range of important military activities in that area."