Tim Furniss
Astrium, Europe's leading space company, has won an order from the international communications satellite consortium, Intelsat to build a new spacecraft. The order brings to six, the number of satellite orders received by the EADS-BAE Systems-owned company this year.
The 5,000kg Intelsat X high power communications satellite, designated 10-02, will be equipped with 45 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders and will be launched into geostationary orbit later this year.
Intelsat 10-02 will be based on the Astrium Eurostar 3000 series spacecraft bus, producing electrical power of 8kW to the communications payload and other spacecraft systems.
Astrium received an order for Intelsat 10-01 in January this year and has since won contracts to build three Inmarsat 1-4 series communications satellites and Hot Bird 7 for the Eutelsat organisation.
The 9kW Inmarsat 1-4 craft, include one ground spare, and two will be launched in 2003. The Hot Bird 7, a Eurostar 2000 plus spacecraft, will operate on 7.5kW power levels."The new Eurostar 3000 spacecraft, ordered a second time by Intelsat increases the power range of our Eurostar satellites, which continue to demonstrate exceptional reliability", says Armand Carlier, Astrium's chairman and CEO.
Source: Flight Daily News
