Alcatel Space Wins Major U.S. Contract; Four Powerful Satellites for GE Americom.Business Editors & High-Tech Writers PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2000 Alcatel Space, France's space industry leader, announced today that the Company has signed a contract to build four satellites for the U.S.-based satellite communications provider GE American Communications Inc. ("GE Americom"). The contract value was not disclosed. The Alcatel Space-built satellites, based on the Company's highly reliable Spacebus platform, will enable GE Americom to expand its global fleet. All four satellites will use the new-generation Spacebus, one of the largest and most powerful commercial satellite platforms available on the market today. Weighing in at approximately 4 to 5 metric tons, the satellites for GE Americom will be built by Alcatel Space in the company's clean rooms in Cannes and Toulouse (France). The two space craft will feature double redundancy of the satellite management unit to ensure mission reliability. Jean-Claude Husson, Alcatel Space President and Chief Executive Officer, stated in connection with the prime contract announcement, "I am proud that Alcatel Space has won its first commercial prime contract awarded by GE Americom, a leading US provider of satellite communications solutions and a pioneer in the field. I believe that Alcatel Space, as the only commercial satellite manufacturer to be backed by one of the world's major telecommunications groups, Alcatel, is particularly well positioned to meet this challenge. This contract confirms international recognition both of the quality of Alcatel Space's satellites and of our competitiveness." Alcatel Space has won over 40 contracts for commercial satellites using the Spacebus platform, with 30 spacecraft spacecraft Vehicle designed to operate, with or without a crew, in a controlled flight pattern above Earth's lower atmosphere. Since streamlining is not needed in the high vacuum of this environment, a spacecraft's shape is designed according to its mission (see already operational in orbit. Indeed, the Spacebus 4000 platform benefits from a 20-year heritage without mission failure that has continued to evolve according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. market requirements, in particular, the need for more and more transponder A receiver/transmitter on a communications satellite. It receives a microwave signal from earth (uplink), amplifies it and retransmits it back to earth at a different frequency (downlink). A satellite has several transponders. capacity. The Spacebus 4000 is also well known for its plasmic propulsion Propulsion The process of causing a body to move by exerting a force against it. Propulsion is based on the reaction principle, stated qualitatively in Newton's third law, that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. , which makes the satellite lighter and longer lived, due to a lower rate of fuel consumption. A highly modular platform architecture enables Alcatel Space to respond quickly to individual customer needs while reducing costs. In addition to the four satellites for GE Americom, Alcatel Space will be in charge of the LEOP LEOP Launch and Early Orbit Phase LEOP Launch and Early Operations Phase LEOP Local Emergency Operations Plans LEOP Launch and Early Operation (Launch and Early Orbit Phase) operations, IOT IOT In Order To IOT Index-Organized Table IOT British Indian Ocean Territory (ISO 3-letter country code) IOT Interoperability Testing IOT Initial Operational Test IOT In-Orbit Test (In-Orbit Tests), operator training with an Alcatel Space-supplied dynamic simulator (1) Software that enables the execution of an application written for a different computer environment. Same as emulator. (2) Software that models the interactions of hypothetical or real-world objects or business processes. . About Alcatel Space Alcatel Space ranks among the world's leading space systems prime contractors. With expertise in civil and military applications, Alcatel Space develops satellite technology for telecommunications, navigation, optical and radar observation, meteorology meteorology, branch of science that deals with the atmosphere of a planet, particularly that of the earth, the most important application of which is the analysis and prediction of weather. , science. With partners around the world, subsidiaries throughout Europe, and a strong commitment to R&D, Alcatel Space plays an important role -- as prime contractor, operator, investor, or service provider -- in a majority of ongoing space programs. An affiliate of Alcatel (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ALA) (51%) and Thomson-CSF (49%), Alcatel Space generated a 1999 turnover of 9.3 billion francs (1.4 billion Euros). The Company employs 5,500 people. For more information, please visit our Web site on http://www.alcatel.com/telecom/space. |
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