Satellite News

The NOAA-N Prime spacecraft, the final Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) launched on 6 February 2009, has completed a comprehensive 45-day on-orbit verification period. Lockheed Martin built NOAA-N Prime at its Space Systems Company Sunnyvale facility.

Intelsat, Ltd. announced that Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SeaMobile, Inc., has contracted for Intelsat capacity to expand the range of satellite-based services MTN provides to its maritime customers, including the world’s largest cruise lines.

SES Astra announced that the Slovak telecommunications and TV operator Towercom has contracted an additional transponder on Astra’s orbital position 23.5 degrees East in order to launch new HD services.

SES Astra said it has significantly increased its reach in Europe, particularly in France, Ukraine and the UK, and is now broadcasting to 122 million analogue and digital TV homes across Europe.

RazakSAT, Malaysia’s remote-sensing satellite, has arrived at Omelek Island in the Republic of Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean from where it will be launched into orbit next month.

The launch of Eutelsat’s W2A satellite aboard an International Launch Services Proton is scheduled for 3 April 2009, 1624 UTC.

The fourth and final pair of massive solar arrays, built by Lockheed Martin at its Space Systems facility in Sunnyvale, have been installed on the International Space Station by the crew of the space shuttle Discovery. The two new arrays have been deployed and are generating electricity.

EchoStar Satellite Services, a division of EchoStar Corporation, announced the launch of its Spacecraft Command and Control Services for the commercial satellite industry around the globe.