Orbital Sciences (OSC) has received a $260 million contract from New York-based VisionStar to build and procure the launch for two geostationary-orbiting broadband communications satellites.
The 2,000kg-class, 30 Ka-band transponder satellites will be stationed at 113¼W and will provide high-speed Internet connections and transmissions, videoconferencing and broadcasting of programmes to the USA.
The launches will be aboard Ariane 4 or 5 and Delta III-class boosters, says OSC.
The contract represents the Dulles,Virginia-based company's first GEO satellite work, although as a result of its take-over of CTA, one GEO satellite, the Indostar 1, is already in orbit, after an Ariane 4 launch in 1997.
OSC chairman David Thompson says: "This contract is another indication that Orbital is a major player in the market for geostationary satellites, having won it in a highly competitive process."
Source: Flight International