MEASAT Global Berhad has selected Astrium to build MEASAT-3b, a new satellite to augment its core Ku-band business in Malaysia, India and Indonesia. Planned to be launched in 2013 and positioned at 91.5 degrees E, co-located with MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3a, the powerful MEASAT-3b satellite will more than double the current Ku-band capacity operated by MEASAT. The agreement was executed by a MEASAT subsidiary.

MEASAT-3b will be based on Astrium's highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform and will be able to provide 48 Ku-band transponders simultaneously, providing MEASAT with large capacity and flexibility over three distinct geographical locations - Malaysia, Indonesia and India. The satellite has also been designed to support a fourth market.

MEASAT-3b is designed to have a launch mass of 5.8 tonnes, an electrical power of 16 kW, and is planned for more than 15 years of operation.

Datuk Umar bin Haji Abu, Chairman, MEASAT said, "By more than doubling our Ku-Band capacity at 91.5 degrees E, MEASAT-3b will allow the Group to continue to meet the increasing requirements of our DTH and telecommunication customers. Co-located with two existing satellites, MEASAT-3b will also add in-additional orbit redundancy to our fleet. Operating three co-located satellites, MEASAT will have created the most robust network in the region able to provide the highest levels of service assurance to our customers both in Malaysia and internationally."

Evert Dudok, CEO of Astrium Satellites, said, "We are proud that MEASAT has chosen Astrium to build their new telecommunication satellite. Astrium is committed to enable our new customer MEASAT to achieve its vision to become the leading satellite operator in emerging markets. We are guaranteeing our customers a minimum of 15 years of continuous operations. The high level in-orbit reliability of the Astrium Eurostar satellites delivered is proven by nearly 400 years of successful, accumulated in-orbit lifetime."