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Arianespace
to
launch
New
Dawn
satellite
14
April
2008
New
Dawn
Satellite
Company
Ltd.
(“New
Dawn”),
a
joint
venture
between
Intelsat
and
a
South
African
investor
group
led
by
Convergence
Partners,
has
awarded
Arianespace
the
launch
contract
to
deliver
the
Intelsat
New
Dawn
satellite
into
geostationary
transfer
orbit
(GTO).
The
launch
is
planned
for
the
end
of
2010,
using
an
Ariane
5 or
Soyuz
launcher
from
the
Guiana
Space
Center,
Europe’s
Spaceport
in
French
Guiana.
The
Intelsat
New
Dawn
satellite
will
be
the
50th
Intelsat
satellite
orbited
by
the
European
launcher.
This
contract
is
in
addition
to
the
agreement
signed
by
Intelsat
and
Arianespace
in
December
2008.
New
Dawn
will
provide
critical
communications
infrastructure
to
Africa
supporting
wireless
backhaul,
broadband,
direct-to-home
and
video
applications.
The
satellite
will
weigh
about
3,000
kg
at
launch,
and
has
a
design
life
exceeding
15
years.
Built
by
Orbital
Sciences
Corporation,
Intelsat
New
Dawn
will
be
fitted
with
28
C-band
and
24
Ku-band
36
MHz
transponder
units.
It
will
be
positioned
at
33
degrees
East
and
will
deliver
new
capacity
to
Africa
for
voice,
wireless
backhaul,
Internet
and
media
applications.
Commenting
on
this
latest
contract,
Arianespace
Chairman
and
CEO
Jean-Yves
Le
Gall
said:
“We
are
particularly
proud
of
this
opportunity
to
once
again
serve
the
world’s
leading
satellite
operator,
in
the
form
of
this
exciting
New
Dawn
joint
venture.
For
more
than
30
years
now,
Arianespace
and
Intelsat
have
built
up
an
extremely
close,
privileged
relationship.”
“Intelsat
has
had
a
long-term
relationship
with
Arianespace.
The
Intelsat
New
Dawn
satellite
will
be
an
integral
part
of
our
global,
resilient
satellite
network,
providing
growth
capacity
and
allowing
us
to
further
expand
our
services
in
Africa,”
said
Ken
Lee,
Intelsat’s
senior
vice
president,
space
systems.
“We
look
forward
to
working
with
Arianespace
in
the
years
to
come
as
we
introduce
new
spacecraft,
optimized
to
deliver
critical
transmission
services
for
our
video,
voice,
network
services
and
government
customers.”
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