Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Galaxy 17 satellite fully operational


Intelsat has announced that its new Galaxy 17 satellite is fully operational and providing services. The satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space and launched by Arianespace on 4 May, arrived at 74.05°W on Thursday, 5 July and Intelsat took control of the satellite from Thales Alenia Space on Friday, 6 July.

Galaxy 17 will eventually be located at 91°W and will join Intelsat’s coveted North American cable community within its Galaxy fleet comprised of 15 other satellites that cover North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Once on station, the satellite will offer fresh capacity with its 24 C- and 24 Ku-band transponders for Intelsat’s video, corporate and consumer broadband customers in North America and in the Caribbean.

This was Intelsat’s first satellite launch of 2007. Intelsat expects two further launches this year, Intelsat 11 and Horizons 2, the second satellite to be launched pursuant to its joint venture with JSAT. The Intelsat 11 is scheduled to launch in September 2007 on an Ariane rocket. The launch date for the Horizons 2 satellite has been rescheduled for an Ariane launch expected in late 2007.
(Source: Intelsat/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)