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Hybrid Spacebus 4000 Spacecraft to Deliver Mobile Broadband and Network
Services
November 22, 2005 - Princeton, NJ - The AMERICOM-23 (AMC-23) satellite,
of SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL Company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock
Exchanges: SESG), was delivered to Baikonur, Kazakhstan on November 4 to
be readied for its Proton/Breeze M launch scheduled for the morning of December
6 local time (evening of December 5 EST). The Spacebus 4000 spacecraft was
built by Alcatel Alenia Space and is being launched by International Launch
Services (ILS) for service at the 172 degrees East longitude orbital position.
The spacecraft, along with an array of testing equipment and systems, was
packed into nine crates weighing more than 85 metric tons and then loaded
on a special purpose Antonov cargo plane. The flight left Nice, France on
November 3, 2004 and arrived the following day. The plane's cargo was unloaded
and the combined satellite program teams from AMERICOM and Alcatel immediately
began a rigorous sequence of pre-launch preparations. These preparations
include launch site testing, spacecraft fueling, integrating the satellite
into the fairing, mating the fairing with the Proton/Breeze M, a final set
of tests, and roll-out of the rocket to the launch pad.
AMC-23 is an advanced,
high-powered hybrid C/Ku-band satellite, from which signals can be received
and sent from California to Bangladesh, from as far north as Alaska in the
U.S. and as far south as Australia and New Zealand, and all points in between.
This spacecraft will serve local, transcontinental and transoceanic customers
across the Pacific region, including Western North America, East Asia, the
South Pacific, Alaska and Hawaii, and provide links to the world's premier
regional satellite systems.
The design of AMC-23 combines a conventional C-band landmass coverage payload
with an innovative Ku-band oceanic coverage payload. The satellite's Ku-band
payload, comprised of 20 high-powered transponders with varied bandwidths
from 27 to 36 MHz, has been tailored to the long-haul airline routes over
the Pacific Ocean to ensure consistent and constant broadband connectivity
requirements of our customer, Connexion by Boeing. In comparison, the 18
transponder C-band payload will be used by broadcasters, cable programmers,
Internet service providers, government agencies, educational institutions,
carriers and private networks for next generation distribution solutions
within, and connectivity to, North America and Pacific Rim.
"We compliment the Alcatel Alenia Space team for delivering this very sophisticated
satellite, which we designed to address a spectrum of customer applications
for the next decade and beyond," said Ed Horowitz, President and CEO of
SES AMERICOM. He continued, "We have entrusted this important spacecraft
to ILS for an on-time and on-target launch in early December; we have customers
on both sides of the Pacific waiting to use both payloads in early 2006."
About Alcatel Alenia Space
Alcatel Alenia Space, leader in satellite systems and at the forefront of
orbit infrastructures, brings together the vast experience and know-how
of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio to form a new leading force in European
space technology. Alcatel Alenia Space represents a worldwide standard for
space development that impacts everybody's future: from navigation to telecommunications,
from meteorology to environmental monitoring, from defence to science and
observation. An affiliate of Alcatel (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%), Alcatel
Alenia Space generated an estimated turnover of 1.8 billion euros with around
7,200 people in 2004.
About International Launch Services
ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. in the United States, manufacturer
of the Atlas rocket, and Khrunichev State Research and Production Space
Center of Russia, builder of the Proton rocket. ILS provides launch services
on the Atlas and Proton vehicles to customers worldwide.
About SES AMERICOM
The largest supplier of satellite services in the U.S., SES AMERICOM is
recognized as a pioneer of global satellite communications services. Celebrating
the 30th anniversary of the launch of its first satellite, the company today
operates a fleet of 18 spacecraft in orbital positions predominantly providing
service throughout the Americas. As a member of the SES GLOBAL family, SES
AMERICOM is able to provide end-to-end telecommunications solutions to any
region of the world via a fleet of 40 satellites. In addition, AMERICOM
Government Services, a wholly owned subsidiary, is dedicated to providing
satellite-based communications solutions to both civilian and defense agencies
of the U.S. government. With its combined operations, SES AMERICOM serves
broadcasters, cable programmers, aeronautical and maritime communications
integrators, Internet service providers, mobile communications networks,
government agencies, educational institutions, carriers and secure global
data networks with efficient communication and content distribution solutions.
For more information, visit www.ses-americom.com.
Media Contacts:
Monica Morgan,
SES AMERICOM, +1-609-987-4143,
monica.morgan@ses-americom.com
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