Eng. Khalid
Balkheyour said: “These contracts for manufacturing and launching two
satellites are within the strategic plan of Arabsat that calls for launching a
satellite every year up to 2012.” He also added that: “During the last two
years, we successfully launched Badr-4 and Badr-6 and we are now getting ready
to launch two more satellites, one at the end of this year and one at the
beginning of next. We are proud of the work and the relationship with the
manufacturing and launching companies Astrium,
Thales Alenia Space and Arianespace. We all, at Arabsat, wish for this
successful partnership to continue and prosper.”
François Auque, CEO of Astrium, speaking on behalf of
the industrial consortium, expressed his delight at working alongside ARABSAT
and added: “I am very proud that the Arab Satellite Communications Organization
ARABSAT and its Board of Directors have placed their trust again in Astrium and
Thales Alenia Space for the manufacture and in-orbit delivery of these new
satellites, the sixth and the seventh our team will have built for ARABSAT. Our
European space industry consortium is pleased to support ARABSAT in the
realisation of this significant new step in the development of their successful
business.”
Astrium and Thales Alenia Space
are jointly responsible for building the satellites and delivering them in
orbit. Astrium, the leading partner, will supply the 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-5C, a multi-mission satellite,
will provide satellite capacity in both C-band and Ka-band frequencies at the
Arabsat position 20°E for a wide range of satellite communications services. A
Eurostar E3000 model equipped with a payload featuring 26 active transponders
in C-band and 12 in Ka-band, Arabsat-5C will have a spacecraft power of 10kW at
the end of its 15-year design lifetime.
Arabsat-6B will be co-located with the
rest of ARABSAT's BADR constellation of Direct-To-Home
satellites at its 26° East video "hot-spot", extending in-orbit
capacity for television services. Also a Eurostar E3000 model, equipped with a
payload featuring 36 active transponders in Ku-band, Arabsat-6B will have a
spacecraft power of 10.5kW at the end of its 15-year design lifetime.
Both satellites will weigh
less than 5 tonnes and will be launched by Ariane 5 in the timeframe 2010-2012.
About Astrium
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of
EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services.
In 2007, Astrium had a turnover of €3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany,
the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas
of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure,
Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and its wholly owned
subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS
is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007,
EADS generated revenues of €39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more
than 116, 000.
Press contacts:
Jeremy Close (Astrium UK) Tel.:
+44 (0)1 438 77 3872
Matthieu Duvelleroy (Astrium FR) Tel.:
+33 (0) 1 77 75 80 32
Mathias Pikelj (Astrium G) Tel.:
+49 (0) 7545 8 9123
Francisco Lechón (Astrium SP) Tel.:
+34 91 586 37 41
www.astrium.eads.net
About Thales Alenia Space
European
leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures,
Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica
(33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups’ “Space
Alliance”. Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space
telecoms, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation
and science. The company has a total of 7,200 employees and 11 industrial
sites, with design and manufacturing facilities in France,
Italy, Spain and Belgium.
Press contacts:
|
Sandrine Bielecki
sandrine.bielecki@thalesaleniaspace.com
|
Tel.: +33 (0)4 92 92 70 94
|
|
Laurence Coquillot
|
Tel. : +33 (0)4 92 92 67 66
|
laurence.coquillot@thalesaleniaspace.com
www.thalesaleniaspace.com
