SES (News - Alert) S.A. has announced that a new multi-mission satellite for the SES group, Sirius 5, has been procured by SES' leasing company, SES Satellite Leasing in the Isle of Man, from Space Systems/ Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications.

 

Based in Palo Alto (News - Alert), California, Space Systems/Loral designs and builds satellites and spacecraft systems for commercial and government customers. The company works with satellite operators to deliver spacecraft for direct-to-home (DTH) television, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, and digital multimedia broadcasting.

 

The new spacecraft is expected to be deployed at the orbital slot of 5 degrees east to strengthen the SES fleet at that position. The satellite is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2011.

 

Sirius 5 will have 36 Ku-band transponders serving Northern Europe and the Baltic region. In addition, it will also serve the African markets with DTH services. Moreover, for global and hemispheric coverage, delivering broadband, point-to-point and VSAT capacities, it will also have 24 C-band transponders—36 MegaHertz each.

 

In the African DTH market, the Ku-band transponders will be commercialized by SES ASTRA, and while in the Nordic market, it will be commercialized by SES SIRIUS.

The C-band transponders are expected to become part of the SES NEW SKIES (News - Alert) offering.

 

“The investment into a new satellite for the important orbital position 5 degrees east is part of our continuous fleet development and will add significant business potential for Northern Europe and Africa,” said Romain Bausch, president and CEO at SES.

 

He also said in a statement that the new satellite will allow us to further drive their DTH business and international reach.

 

Martin Halliwell, president at SES ENGINEERING, said that construction of Sirius 5 is a “perfect example” of how SES and its different operating companies benefit from the group-wide procurement process.

 

He also said that Sirius 5 will have multiple missions and enable different parts of SES to broaden their ability to provide cost-effective solutions for broadcasting and broadband, especially in C-band, which is an increasingly hot commodity.

 

“We are honored to play a key role in the new SES procurement strategy,” said Patrick DeWitt, CEO at Space Systems/Loral. “Our leadership in the industry, and the flexibility of our high performance platform, position us well to support companies with multiple mission requirements.”