Flight International online news 12:30GMT: Telesat's Anik F1R satellite, manufactured by EADS Astrium, is scheduled for launch September 8 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on an International Launch Service Proton Breeze M launch vehicle. 
Positioned at 107.3 degrees, the satellite will offer fixed satellite communications services in North America through a total of 56 transponders in C and Ku-bands, and includes a navigation payload.
EADS Astrium, as prime contractor, has designed and built the spacecraft and supplied both the payloads and the platform. Canadian companies EMS Technologies and COM DEV have supplied a significant part of the spacecraft equipment and technology.
Anik F1R is based on the E3000 version of the successful Eurostar communications satellite family that has been ordered by most of the world's major satellite operators. Thirty-nine Eurostar spacecraft have been ordered to date, of which twenty-seven have already been launched
This is the first of two Anik spacecraft built by EADS Astrium for Telesat.
ROSS BENTLEY/LONDON
Source: Flight International
