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Telenor contracts with Orbital to build Thor 2-R ORBITAL NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 20, 2005 Telenor ASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that they have signed a contract for the delivery of a new geosynchronous (GEO) communications satellite. The spacecraft, to be called THOR 2-R, will be based on Orbital's industry-leading STAR satellite platform. The new order calls for a 26-month in-orbit delivery schedule. Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, a division of Telenor Broadcast Holding AS, based in Oslo, Norway will own and operate the satellite. Orbital will be responsible for manufacturing and testing the satellite and procuring the dedicated launch service. Telenor has directed Orbital to negotiate with International Launch Services (ILS) for a launch aboard a Proton rocket. The THOR 2-R spacecraft will provide Ku-band fixed telecommunications and direct-to-home television broadcasting services from Telenor's 1 degree West Longitude orbital location. The new satellite will have 24 transponders with three times more payload power (3.6 kilowatts of payload power) compared to the current THOR 2 satellite. THOR 2-R will weigh approximately 2,450 kg at launch and will improve Telenor's service coverage in the Nordic countries, Europe and the Middle East. Delivery of the satellite is scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2007. Commenting on the contract award, Dr. Ali Atia, head of Orbital's GEO communications satellite unit, said, "We very much appreciate the confidence Telenor, one of the largest global telecommunications firms, has shown in Orbital by purchasing this satellite from us. Orbital is very pleased to be providing this satellite to a dynamic and expanding market in Europe, thus demonstrating Orbital's abilities to meet the various needs of customers in Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East." Mr. Cato Halsaa, Managing Director of Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, said, "We are very pleased to be working together with Orbital to provide this replacement for THOR 2. New TV channels, the introduction of HDTV and the expansion of broadband services to Telenor's markets increase the need for several more transponders to accommodate growth in these emerging applications. Orbital provides an efficient and reliable solution for Telenor to meet these expanding market requirements in our broadcasting business." The Telenor order continues Orbital's leadership in the growing market for small GEO communications satellites. Since the late 1990's, Orbital has received orders for 15 GEO satellites. This contract with Telenor is the third firm GEO satellite order Orbital has received this year. Earlier in 2005, Orbital received an order from PanAmSat Corporation for the PAS-11 spacecraft and also received an order from a joint venture between PanAmSat and JSAT Corporation of Japan for the Horizons-2 satellite. Telenor ASA is an international telecommunications provider, headquartered in Norway. Telenor is the largest provider of telecommunication services in Norway and is among the 12 largest GSM mobile operators in the world. Telenor has a total of 22,400 full time employees, of which 11,100 are located outside Norway. Telenor owns and operates two satellites, THOR 2 and THOR 3, focused on the Nordic, and Central and Eastern European markets, as well as owning capacity on the Intelsat 10-02 satellite, which provides additional coverage over Europe and the Middle East. Telenor Satellite Broadcasting provides extensive television broadcasting services for distribution, contribution and occasional applications to Canal Digital, all the Nordic Broadcasters and many other broadcasters throughout Europe, using its hybrid network comprised of (three) satellites, terrestrial circuits, (two) international teleports and (four) remote earth stations. Additionally, it provides fixed satellite communication and uplinking services for data and remote Internet applications together with VSAT and broadband services in Europe and the Middle East. Orbital develops and manufactures small space systems for commercial, civil government and military customers. The company's primary products are satellites and launch vehicles, including low-orbit, geostationary and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing and scientific missions; ground- and air-launched rockets that deliver satellites into orbit; and missile defense boosters that are used as interceptor and target vehicles. Orbital also offers space-related technical services to government agencies and develops and builds satellite-based transportation management systems for public transit agencies and private vehicle fleet operators. |
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NASA unveils the agency's blueprint for building the future spacecraft and launch vehicles needed for mankind's return to the lunar surface in the next decade.
Astronomers announce the detection by NASA's Swift satellite of the most distant explosion yet, a gamma-ray burst from the edge of the visible universe, during this media teleconference held Monday, September 12. (54min 01sec file)
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has reached the summit of Husband Hill, returning a spectacular panorama from the hilltop in the vast Gusev Crater. Scientists held a news conference Sept. 1 to reveal the panorama and give an update on the twin rover mission.
To gain a new perspective on space shuttle Discovery's ascent and gather additional imagery for the return to flight mission, NASA dispatched a pair of high-flying WB-57 aircraft equipped with sharp video cameras in their noses.
When space shuttle Discovery launched its two solid-fuel booster rockets were equipped with video cameras, providing dazzling footage of separation from the external fuel tank, their free fall and splashdown in the sea.
Mounted atop a modified Boeing 747, space shuttle Discovery was ferried across the country from Edwards Air Force Base, California, to Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Shuttle fuel tank ET-119 is loaded onto a barge at Kennedy Space Center for the trip back to Lockheed Martin's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tank will be used in the investigation to determine why foam peeled away from Discovery's tank on STS-114 in July.
Launch of the GOES-N weather observatory aboard a Boeing Delta 4 rocket is postponed at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifts off aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.