Telesat Unveils New Digital TV Satellite
Telesat plans to build and launch a new direct broadcast satellite that will carry a wide range of digital television services.
Telesat's eighteenth satellite, Nimiq 4, will enable Telesat's customer, Bell ExpressVu, to continue to enhance advanced services such as high-definition television, specialty channels and foreign language programming, the company announced.
Telesat has selected EADS Astrium, Europe's largest space company, as the manufacturer for Nimiq 4, and International Launch Services (ILS) for the satellite's launch in 2008.
"For more than 35 years, Telesat has taken pride in carrying the most advanced broadcasting services to viewers from sea to sea — and Nimiq 4 continues that tradition," said Larry Boisvert, Telesat's president and CEO. "Nimiq 4 extends Telesat's longstanding partnerships with Bell ExpressVu, EADS Astrium and ILS. Together, we're taking digital television to new frontiers."
As prime contractor for Nimiq 4, EADS Astrium will design and build the satellite and supply both its payload and its platform. Canadian industry will provide a significant portion of the spacecraft's equipment and technology. Based on the powerful E3000 version of the Eurostar satellite, Nimiq 4 will be equipped with 32 active high-power transponders in Ku-band and eight in Ka-band.
Nimiq 4 will have a launch mass of 4.8 tonnes, a solar array span of 39 meters once deployed in orbit, and spacecraft power of 12 kW at end of life. Operating in geostationary orbit, the satellite will provide commercial services for a minimum of 15 years and will operate from an orbital location of 82º West.
Nimiq 4 will launch on an ILS Proton/Breeze M rocket built by Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The Proton has carried more than 300 missions for the Russian government and commercial customers for more than 40 years, and has a reliability record of 96 percent — rising to 100 percent with the Breeze M upper stage.
Telesat is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BCE Inc. EADS Astrium is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS SPACE. ILS markets and manages commercial missions on both the Proton and the Atlas vehicles.
http://www.cablecastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=51651&issue=01172006
