Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, has shipped the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 satellite to the Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, Calif., where it is being prepared for an early January 2004 launch.

The shipping container with Estrela do Sul arrives at Sea Launch processing facilities. Credit: Sea Launch

"Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 will become the backbone of Loral's fixed satellite services business in Latin America," said Terry Hart, president, Loral Skynet. "With this new satellite, Loral will have the capability to offer its customers unique coverage patterns in Brazil and Latin America and will be the first Brazilian operator to offer its own Ku-band service to Brazil."

Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 will carry 51 Ku-band (36 MHz equivalent) transponders with five unique and interconnecting coverage beams. More than fifty percent of the satellite's power will be dedicated to Brazil, providing dedicated Ku-band solutions for the Brazilian marketplace from its 63 degrees West longitude orbital slot. The satellite's other beams will cover the Americas and the North Atlantic Ocean, where Connexion by Boeing(TM) will use the satellite to enable its Internet-to-aircraft service. The satellite will support business applications such as broadcast video and cable programming, Internet backbone connectivity, VSAT data and other telecommunications services.

The satellite will be lifted into orbit by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket from the Odyssey Launch Platform positioned on the equator in the Pacific Ocean.

Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 was manufactured for Loral Skynet do Brasil by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). SS/L is a premier designer, manufacturer and integrator of powerful satellites and satellite systems and also provides a range of related services that include mission control operations and procurement of launch services. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company has an international base of commercial and governmental customers whose applications include broadband digital communications, direct-to-home broadcast, defense communications, environmental monitoring, and air traffic control.

On July 15, 2003, Loral and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Loral intends to reorganize around its international satellite fleet, which includes Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1, and its manufacturing businesses and is in the process now of preparing its formal plan of reorganization. Telstar 18, offering services to a large portion of Asia, is set to launch in the second quarter of 2004, bringing the total number of satellites in the international fleet to five.

Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. It owns and operates a global fleet of telecommunications satellites used by television and cable networks to broadcast video entertainment programming, and by communication service providers, resellers, corporate and government customers for broadband data transmission, Internet services and other value-added communications services. Loral also is a world-class leader in the design and manufacture of satellites and satellite systems for commercial and government applications including direct-to-home television, broadband communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring and air traffic management.