Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | ILS, Telesat Canada sign contract to launch Nimiq 5

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ILS, Telesat Canada sign contract to launch Nimiq 5
INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH SERVICES NEWS RELEASE
Posted: April 29, 2007

MCLEAN, Va. -- International Launch Services (ILS) will launch its sixth satellite for Telesat Canada on a Proton Breeze M vehicle, under a contract the companies announced. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Telesat's Nimiq 5 is scheduled for a Proton launch in 2009 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Proton vehicle is built by ILS' Russian partner, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center.

This announcement follows the successful launch April 10 of Telesat's Anik F3 satellite by the ILS Proton Breeze M vehicle. Telesat also used Proton vehicles to launch Nimiq 1 in 1999, Nimiq 2 in 2002 and Anik F1R in 2005. ILS is scheduled to launch the Nimiq 4 satellite on a Proton vehicle next year.

"Telesat is a valued customer, as well as one of the world's leading satellite operators, and we're pleased to be chosen to partner with Telesat to expand its services," said ILS President Frank McKenna. "We are focusing on performance, because we believe that performance builds customer confidence and paves the way for long-term relationships."

"We are extremely pleased to be working with International Launch Services again. We have a long and successful history together," said Dan Goldberg, Telesat's president and CEO. "ILS offered Telesat the right combination of quality, reliability, experience and value, and we look forward to working with their team on the important Nimiq 5 launch campaign."

Nimiq 5 will operate at 72.7 degrees West longitude, carrying a wide range of high-definition and specialty direct-to-home television services. Space Systems/Loral is building the high-power, 32-transponder Ku-band spacecraft.

The Proton vehicle has carried out 325 missions for the Russian government and commercial customers over more than 40 years. The Proton launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

ILS is a joint venture of Space Transport Inc., Khrunichev and RSC Energia. ILS is incorporated in Delaware in the United States, and is headquartered in McLean, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. This month's Anik F3 launch marked the 40th mission for ILS.