McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has been awarded a contract from Telenor of Norway to launch its Thor 3 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit in June 1998 aboard a Delta 2 booster, pictured launching the global-positioning system GPS 2R satellite on 23 July (Flight International, 6-12 August). The Thor 3 is a Hughes HS-376 satellite equipped with 14 ku-band transponders for direct-to-home television broadcasting in Scandinavia. MDC Deltas have been used to launch the Thor 1 (the former British Satellite Broadcasting Marco Polo 2 satellite purchased in orbit by Telenor) and the Thor 2. MDC has one other commercial launch contract for the Delta 2, to carry the UK's Skynet 4D into orbit later this year, and has over 20 launch commitments for NASA and the US Air Force.
Source: Flight International
