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SES Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing for U.S. Air Force Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload

Dépèche transmise le 11 mai 2011 par Business Wire

SES Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing for U.S. Air Force Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SES WORLD SKIES U.S. Government Solutions today announced that the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP) and its host spacecraft, SES-2, have completed thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing.

“The TVAC was a key milestone for CHIRP, and puts the program well on track for the remaining environmental tests.”

The experimental wide field-of-view sensor was designed by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. After integration onto the SES-2 spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., the TVAC tests were conducted to demonstrate the sensor’s ability to withstand the space environment it will experience following the launch this August. A preliminary review of the test data indicates the CHIRP payload thermal performance was as expected.

Victoria Kennedy, CHIRP Program Manager at SES noted, “The TVAC was a key milestone for CHIRP, and puts the program well on track for the remaining environmental tests.”

The TVAC is one of a series of recent successful tests completed by the CHIRP program. In January, the payload was integrated onto the SES-2 spacecraft and passed what is known as the initial post-mate electrical checkout. Following this milestone, an integrated ground-to-payload test was completed where the sensor was commanded from SAIC’s Mission Analysis Center in Seal Beach, CA through Orbital’s Mission Operations Center in Dulles, VA. Through this process, payload data, including images and state-of-health data were successfully transmitted. This demonstration was a key risk reduction activity in the development and testing of the CHIRP Ground Segment.

Brent Armand, CHIRP Program Manager at Orbital Sciences Corporation remarked, “The team is very pleased with the payload performance during TVAC. We are all systems go as we look forward to the upcoming vibration test campaign and the near-term completion and delivery of the SES-2 spacecraft.”

About SES WORLD SKIES U.S. Government Solutions www.ses-usg.com

SES WORLD SKIES U.S. Government Solutions, a subsidiary of SES WORLD SKIES, is exclusively focused on meeting the satellite communications needs of the U.S. Government. Leveraging more than three decades of experience in the government SATCOM market, SES WORLD SKIES U.S. Government Solutions offers robust and secure satellite-based communications solutions. Supported by SES’s fleet of 44 satellites offering comprehensive global coverage, SES WORLD SKIES U.S. Government Solutions offers highly reliable fixed and on-the-move capacity.

About SES

SES (Paris:SESG)(LuxX:SESG) wholly owns the market-leading satellite operators SES ASTRA and SES WORLD SKIES and participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 44 satellites. For further information: www.ses.com.

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