Boeing is set to construct a new satellite for Intelsat which will be active at 72° longitude over the Indian Ocean area. The satellite is designed to address the demands of high-growth service areas, more specifically C-band for Africa/Asia and Ku-band to bridge South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the African coast.
Intelsat will be adding a new satellite to its global fleet. The Intelsat 22 satellite is expected to be launched in 1Q12, and will serve at the 72° East longitude orbital location over the Indian Ocean region.
The design of the Intelsat 22 payload is optimised to address high growth service areas, to provide continuity of services and to support Intelsat's strategic initiatives. The satellite will supply 48 C- and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz equivalent transponders to network services and media customers in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, providing incremental capacity for commercial and government applications.
The satellite will feature custom-tailored beams to meet traffic patterns in these high-demand regions, including C-band capacity for Africa and Asia, and an ability to cross-connect between the two regions. Its Ku-band payload will provide coverage of the Middle East and East Africa, with connectivity into Europe, as well as a mobility beam bridging South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the coastline of Africa that will support Intelsat's global mobility strategy for maritime and aeronautical applications.
Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will manufacture the satellite. The launch provider has not yet been announced.
Intelsat Executive Vice-President of Global Sales and Marketing Stephen Spengler commented, "Intelsat continues to see strong growth in the Africa and Middle East regions and for connectivity between Asia and Africa. The 72° East longitude orbital location is ideal for addressing these requirements and for delivering follow-on capacity for our network services and government customers operating in these regions and the satellite's design will allow us to further progress our global maritime strategy."
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