Orbital Sciences (OSC) has made a breakthrough in the communications satellite market, winning a contract from PanAmSat to build up to three satellites. The company has also won an order from Taiwan to build six microsatellites.
OSC will build PanAmSat's next generation Galaxy C-band transponder fleet, initially manufacturing a 24- transponder craft for launch in 2002-03 to a geostationary orbit position at 74°W. The contract includes options to build two further craft, also carrying 24 C-band transponders, to replace the Galaxy 5 and 1R satellites already in orbit and expected to be retired in 2005-06.
The PanAmSat craft will be based on the OSC Star platform which is particularly suitable for lower-power C-band satellites and for customers in early stages of building a business which require a smaller spacecraft. This "right size" policy, says OSC, has enabled the company to build a niche in the market for smaller launch vehicles and satellites.
OSC also built Japan's B-SAT2a, launched by Ariane 5 on 5 March, B-SAT2b to be launched this year and the platform for the Lockheed Martin-built N-STAR satellite, to be launched in 2002.
The $56 million contract from Taiwan's National Space Programme Office (NSPO), meanwhile, covers the manufacture of a constellation of six remote sensing microsatellites - Rocsat 3/Constellation Observing System Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (Cosmic). The satellites, equipped with a GPS receiver, ionospheric photometer and tri-band beacon, will be based on the OSC's Microstar platform. To be launched in 2005, they have an operational life of five years.
Source: Flight International
