GE-8 undergoing final testing in the factory. Photo: Lockheed Martin

The GE-8 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) for GE American Communications (GE Americom), was recently shipped from production facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif. to Kourou, French Guiana, where it will be readied for a late December launch.

An all C-band satellite with 24 active transponders, GE-8 will join GE Americom's global fleet of satellites, which provide distribution of cable, broadcast television and radio, telecommunications services, business television and broadband data distribution throughout North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Asia. The spacecraft will be lifted into orbit on an Ariane-5 launch vehicle provided by Arianespace of Evry, France.

Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems markets, designs and builds geostationary and non-geostationary telecommunications and remote sensing satellites for customers worldwide. LMCSS is an operating unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, one of the core business areas of the Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT). Lockheed Martin has a 41-year heritage of building reliable spacecraft for commercial and military customers, having launched more than 875 spacecraft and clocking nearly 1,100 years of on-orbit performance experience.