SES WORLD SKIES U.S. Government Solutions has announced it has signed a major capacity agreement with ARTEL to extend U.S. Government communications capabilities in the Middle East.

ARTEL has taken service on four full Ku-band transponders (144 MegaHertz) on board SES' ASTRA 3B satellite, which was launched May 21 from Kourou, French Guiana. This follows a multi-transponder deal between SES and ARTEL in 2009, bringing ARTEL's total bandwidth procurement on the ASTRA 3B spacecraft to eight, 36 MHz-equivalent transponders, or 288 MHz.

The capacity will support essential communications applications in the Middle East, and will deliver broadband, IP voice, data and video capabilities to entities within the U.S. Government.

"Supporting the critical communications of our U.S. Government customers is our first priority, and this additional acquisition will provide our customers with outstanding services configured on this brand new, powerful SES satellite," said Abbas Yazdani, Founder and CEO of ARTEL.

ASTRA 3B is a state-of-the-art Ku and Ka-band spacecraft designed for the distribution of both direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services and two-way broadband services across Europe and the Middle East. The satellite has 60 Ku-band transponders and four Ka-band transponders, providing a wide range of connectivity from the 23.5E orbital location.

"The launch of our ASTRA 3B spacecraft has come at a time and location where U.S. Government customers are in need of connectivity," said Tip Osterthaler, President and CEO of SES WORLD SKIES , U.S. Government Solutions. "We're proud to be working with our ARTEL colleagues once again to support these essential communications."