WORLDSAT-2 Satellite Readied for Atlantic Ocean Regional Mission
Princeton, NJ, USA & Cannes, France --September 3, 2004 -- At a press conference today in Cannes, WORLDSAT, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL Company (Euronext Paris; Luxembourg and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges: SESG) announced that its WORLDSAT-2 (WS-2) spacecraft, the first Spacebus 4000 spacecraft manufactured by Alcatel Space, is ready for final testing and then for shipment to Baikonur, Kazakhstan for its planned launch in the fourth quarter. It was also announced that SES ASTRA of Luxembourg,an SES GLOBAL Company, will be using WS-2 to expand its reach into Africa.
WORLDSAT-2 is a high-powered C-band satellite that will operate from 37.5 degrees West. The large, state of the art spacecraft has 72 transponders organized into three regional beams: North America, South America and Europe/Africa. The satellite’s advanced design and high power levels will support a wide range of applications ... from tv broadcasting to high-speed internet connections ... facilitating reception and higher data throughput to smaller C-band antennas. WS-2’s extensive coverage reaches from the U.S. to the eastern reaches of the Mediterranean ... and from Cape Town, South Africa to Lima, Peru. For additional flexibility and reach, the three beams may be interconnected through on-board switching on an individual transponder basis.
SES ASTRA of Luxembourg has contracted for 24 transponders from the WS-2 Europe/Africa hemi beam and will market that capacity as ASTRA-4A. Their efforts will be focused on delivering satellite services to the entire African continent. This new capacity complements the Ku-band services ASTRA offers in Africa via ASTRA 2B at 28.2 degrees East. The other 13 satellites in the ASTRA fleet deliver services throughout Europe.
"I compliment the Alcatel Space team for delivering a very sophisticated spacecraft and for their flexibility as we tweaked the satellite’s design to reflect the changing dynamics of a very challenging marketplace," said Andreas Georghiou, president of WORLDSAT. He continued, "We are absolutely delighted that ASTRA, Europe’s premier regional operator, is taking full advantage of our intra-company economies of scale by utilizing a significant portion of the WS-2 satellite to deepen their regional bandwidth resources."
Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA, said, "By securing these high-powered C-band transponders from our sister company, WORLDSAT, we realize the synergies foreseen by SES GLOBAL in the formation of this world-wide enterprise. When added to our Ku-band capacity already supporting customers in Nigeria and Ghana, the ASTRA-4A C-band transponders give us a powerful and competitive African punch."
About WORLDSAT
WORLDSAT was created in 2003 by SES GLOBAL, the world’s largest satellite company, as a subsidiary of SES AMERICOM, the New Jersey-based operating company and the largest and highest quality supplier of satellite services in the United States. WORLDSAT provides customers with applications as diverse as mobile communications, broadcasting, internet connections, and data networks, adding value with unparalleled connections to the premier regional satellite fleets including SES AMERICOM and SES ASTRA in Europe and Middle East and Africa. The newly-formed business unit has satellites currently operating at 108.2 degrees East (WORLDSAT-1, formerly AAP-1), 172 degrees East (Spacenet-4), 47 degrees West (TDRS-6), and 37.5 degrees West (Satcom-C1). In addition, the company has two new satellites, WS-2 and WS-3, planned for launch in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
For more information: www.worldsat.net.
About SES ASTRA
The ASTRA satellite fleet is Europe's leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system, delivering services to more than 94 million DTH and cable households. The ASTRA fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1400 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions for DTH services are 19.2 degrees East and 28.2 degrees East. Professional services like Direct-to-cable (DTC), Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital positions of 23.5 degrees/24.2 degrees East and 5.2 degrees East.
For more information: www.ses-astra.com.
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Contacts:
Monica Morgan, +1-609-987-4143,
Jean-Paul Hoffmann, +352-710-725-235,
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