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International Launch Services and Eutelsat Announce Launch of the W7 Satellite in Mid-November 2009

Dépèche transmise le 7 septembre 2009 par Business Wire

International Launch Services and Eutelsat Announce Launch of the W7 Satellite in Mid-November 2009

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Launch Services (ILS) and Eutelsat, a leading provider of satellite telecommunications, announced a contract today for the launch of the W7 satellite on an ILS Proton. The W7 satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space and is currently in preparation for delivery to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ILS and Khrunichev are implementing a mission integration schedule to support a mid-November 2009 launch.

The W7 satellite was built on the Spacebus 4000 C4 platform with a launch mass of approximately 5600 kg and has a 15 year life expectancy. Situated at 36 degrees East, the spacecraft will replace Eutelsat’s SESAT 1 satellite, launched on ILS Proton in early 2000. It will also double the capacity available within a key neighborhood among the fleet of geostationary satellites and provide enhanced coverage for Central Asia and Africa.

The Proton vehicle is Russia’s premier heavy-lift launcher and is built by Khrunichev Research and Production Space Center, the majority owner of ILS. Earlier this year, ILS celebrated its 50th ILS Proton launch milestone with the launch of Eutelsat’s W2A satellite. The award of W7 is the ninth new award for ILS this year.

Frank McKenna, president of ILS said, “ILS is uniquely suited to meet demanding customer requirements and we are committed to providing real business value to our customers. Meeting Eutelsat’s critical schedule requirements with our leading edge integration and robust production capability allowed us to schedule the W-7 launch within a timeframe that is simply unmatched in the industry.”

About ILS and Khrunichev

ILS is a world leader in providing mission and launch services for global satellite operators and offers a complete array of services and support, from contract signing through mission management and on-orbit delivery. ILS has exclusive rights to market the Proton vehicle and is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, Va., near Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.ilslaunch.com.

Khrunichev, which holds the majority interest in ILS, is one of the cornerstones of the Russian space industry. Khrunichev manufactures the Proton system and is developing the Angara launch system. The Proton launches from facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has a heritage of over 345 missions since 1965. Khrunichev includes among its branches, a number of key manufacturers of launch vehicle and spacecraft components in Moscow and in other cities of the Russian Federation. For more information, visit www.khrunichev.com.