A technician at Lockheed Martin's state-of-the-art Commercial Satellite facilities conducts a final inspection of the NSS-7 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems for New Skies N.V. Image: Lockheed Martin.

The NSS-7 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) for New Skies Satellites N.V. was shipped recently from the production facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif. to Kourou, French Guiana, where it will be readied for a mid-April launch.

NSS-7 is a hybrid Ku- and C-band telecommunications satellite providing fixed satellite services, including video distribution and contribution, Internet access, corporate business networking and fixed services such as telephony and data. Based on an enhanced version of Lockheed Martin's A2100AX satellite bus, this 72 transponder satellite will operate at 338.5 degrees East longitude over the Atlantic Ocean, providing coverage to Europe, Africa and the Americas where it will replace the NSS-K and NSS-803 satellites.

NSS-7's expansive coverage is achieved through 11 high-powered beams, which are focused on key developed and emerging markets. The extensive switching capability between beams and between frequency bands offers enhanced connectivity between regions and makes it possible to tailor capacity to match current Internet and video traffic patterns in the Atlantic Ocean Region. NSS-7's high downlink power levels also will enable the use of smaller, more efficient receive systems for the delivery of Internet and data services. Following delivery in-orbit, the satellite will be operated from New Skies Satellite's new operations center located in The Hague, The Netherlands.

New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK) is one of only four fixed satellite communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations and Internet service providers around the world. New Skies has five satellites in geosynchronous orbit and ground facilities around the world. The company also has three new spacecraft under construction, which are planned to serve the Atlantic Ocean Region, Asia and the Americas. In line with its growth strategy, the company has secured certain rights to make use of four additional orbital positions. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has offices in London, Johannesburg, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C. Additional information is available at www.newskies.com.

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 1,500 years of on-orbit performance experience.