Press Releases
Telesat launches state-of-the-art satellite
Company's 17th satellite will carry telecom & broadcasting services to North America
BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan, April 10, 2007 - Telesat, one of the world’s leading satellite operators, has successfully launched its state-of-the-art Anik F3 satellite. Anik F3 will provide valuable broadcasting and telecommunications capacity and business communications throughout North America and also carry a Ka-band payload to supplement services now being carried on the Anik F2 satellite.
“We are delighted with the successful launch of Anik F3, a state-of-the-art satellite that allows us to meet our customers’ important broadcast and communications requirements throughout North America,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s president and CEO. “Anik F3 will make substantial financial and operational contributions to Telesat going forward and underscores our dedication to growing our business and providing robust and reliable satellite services to citizens throughout Canada and the rest of North America.”
Anik F3 was launched on the Proton / Breeze M rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan at 4:54 a.m. local time. The satellite separated from the upper stage of the rocket and its signal was acquired by Telesat’s tracking station in Perth, Australia just over nine hours later.
Manufactured by EADS Astrium, Telesat’s Anik F3 is the company’s second European-built satellite. International Launch Services (ILS) provided mission management. Anik F3 represents Telesat’s seventeenth successful satellite launch and its fourth with ILS.
Telesat will officially take possession of Anik F3 after the satellite has successfully completed comprehensive in-orbit testing. The satellite is equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders, 24 C-band transponders, and a small Ka-band payload. The spacecraft has a launch mass of approximately 4634 kg, a solar array span of 36 metres once deployed in orbit, and spacecraft power of 10 kW at end of life. Anik F3 has an estimated mission life of 15 years.
About Telesat
Headquartered in Ottawa, Telesat Canada is one of the world’s pioneers in satellite communications and systems management. Created in 1969, the company made history three years later with the launch of Anik A1, the world's first domestic communications satellite in geostationary orbit operated by a commercial company.
Telesat operates a fleet of satellites that provide broadcast distribution and telecommunications services, and is a highly respected consultant and partner in satellite ventures around the world. Telesat has offices throughout Canada, in the United States and in Brazil. On December 16, 2006, Telesat’s parent company, BCE Inc., agreed to sell the satellite operator for $3.25 billion, net of debt, to a new acquisition company formed by Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and Loral Space & Communications Inc. As part of the agreement, Loral will transfer the fixed satellite services and network services assets of its Loral Skynet subsidiary. These will then be combined with Telesat to create the fourth largest satellite operator in the world and one with a truly global footprint servicing North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The enlarged company will continue to be called Telesat, will remain headquartered in Ottawa, and all of the fixed satellite services R&D done by the company will be carried out in Canada.
For more information:
Ted Ignacy
Telesat
(613) 748-0123
t.ignacy@telesat.ca
Dan Tisch or Kyla Thoms (media only)
Argyle Communications
(416) 968-7311 Ext. 223 or 237
dtisch@argylecommunications.com
kpassmore@argylecommunications.com
