Tim Furniss/LONDON
MATRA MARCONI SPACE (MMS) has been awarded a contract to build the Hot Bird 5 direct-broadcast communications satellite for Eutelsat, the European telecommunications-satellite operator. A launcher for the 1998 lift-off has not yet been selected.
The company built the Hot Bird 1 (launched in March 1995), is building the Hot Bird 2 (to be launched in August), and will assemble the third and fourth spacecraft (which will fly in 1997-8). The latest contract is the sixth for an MMS Eurostar spacecraft bus in six months and the 21st in the series (Flight International, 10-16 April).
The 2.7t Hot Birds will be co-located at 13¡E in geostationary orbit and, by the time of the launch of the fifth spacecraft, will be providing 82 transponders, transmitting up to a total of 800 digital television channels.
Indonesia's telecommunications company, PT Telkom, is inviting tenders for the contract to build the Palapa B5 communications satellite, to be launched in 1999.
"Hughes has been Indonesia's longstanding partner in building the Palapa satellites, but that does not mean it will automatically be awarded the Palapa contract," says the company.
Intelsat is to inaugurate an Intelsat 9 satellite series with a request for tenders for the contract to build two new spacecraft.
Source: Flight International
