Loral Resumes Construction Of Wildblue-1: First All Ka-Band Bird

SPACEMART

WildBlue-1 is designed to provide consumers and small businesses in the United States fast and affordable two-way wireless Internet access using a mini-dish antenna. WildBlue-1 is currently scheduled to launch aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

Palo Alto - Mar 17, 2003
Space Systems/Loral has resumed construction of WildBlue-1, the world's first commercially dedicated all-Ka-band, multiple spot-beam broadband satellite, for WildBlue Communications, Inc., Denver, CO.

WildBlue recently announced that Intelsat, Liberty Satellite & Technology, Inc., the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and David Drucker, WildBlue's chairman, agreed to invest $156 million in the company, which will allow WildBlue to enter commercial service in 2004 and complete its investment in the WildBlue-1 satellite.

"Space Systems/Loral is proud to be at the forefront of providing the most advanced and reliable satellite technology to operators around the world," said C. Patrick DeWitt, president, Space Systems/Loral. "The continuation of the WildBlue project will provide important and timely broadband services to users across North America."

WildBlue-1 will generate more than 10 kW of power at beginning of life, and will cover North America with 41 overlapping Ka-band spot beams. Eight tracking antennas on board the satellite provide precision pointing of the beams over the contiguous United States. The 4.7 metric ton spacecraft will operate from the 109.2 degrees West longitude orbital position.

WildBlue-1 is based on SS/L's 1300 satellite platform and is designed to achieve a long, useful life, in this case over 12 years. The satellite achieves excellent station-keeping and orbital stability by using bipropellant propulsion and momentum-bias systems. A system of high-efficiency solar arrays and batteries provides uninterrupted electrical power. In all, SS/L satellites have amassed nearly 1,000 years of on-orbit service.

SPACEMART

New Skies and Intelsat To Expand Services in Atlantic

London - Mar 03, 2003
New Skies Satellites N.V., and Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing, Ltd., two leading providers of global satellite communications services, today announced an arrangement to use their existing orbital and satellite resources at a single orbital location to expand their respective commercial service offerings to the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

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