Orbital Awarded Contract for a Third Communications Satellite by Optus of Australia.New Order Is Third Spacecraft Ordered by Australia-Based Satellite Services Company Optus' D3 Satellite to Broadcast Digital Television to Australia and New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. DULLES, Va. -- Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC, though commonly referred to as Orbital) is a Dulles, Virginia company which specializes in satellite launch and manufacture. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ORB) announced today that one of its current satellite customers, Australia's Optus Networks, has placed a firm order for its third STAR(TM) communications satellite communications satellite artificial satellite that functions as part of a global radio-communications network. Echo 1, the first communications satellite, launched in 1960, was an instrumented inflatable sphere that passively reflected radio signals back to as an addition to its in-orbit fleet. The Optus D3 satellite will provide Ku-Band direct television broadcasting services to Australia and New Zealand. The new satellite, like Optus D1 and Optus D2, will be based on Orbital's STAR platform and will carry a total of 32 transponders and is scheduled for delivery in 2009. Commenting on the contract award, Mr. Carl A. Marchetto, Orbital's Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Space Systems Group, said, "We are thrilled with Optus' continued acquisition of Orbital's STAR satellites. With the Optus D1 spacecraft already deployed in the Optus fleet and the Optus D2 satellite scheduled for launch later this year, we are looking forward to another opportunity to work with one of our most important customers. We are fully committed (Law) committed to prison for trial, in distinction from being detained for examination. See also: Fully to working closely with the Optus team to build on our already solid relationship, to help ensure Optus meets the needs of the customers they serve." Orbital has experienced strong growth in its commercial communications satellite business over the past several years. To accommodate this rapid growth, the company recently completed an expansion of its Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Dulles, Virginia Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of AOL, Orbital Sciences Corporation and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc. are located in Dulles. . This year also promises to be another busy period for Orbital's commercial satellite business. In addition to the award of the Optus D3 satellite, the first of several orders expected to be placed this year, Orbital is schedule to deliver four other geosynchronous Aligned with the earth's rotational speed. Refers to satellites that travel at the same speed as the earth, but may not always be at the same distance from the earth. See geostationary. communications satellites for launch throughout 2007. Included in this year's deliveries are the Optus D2, Intelsat-11, Horizons-2 and THOR 5 spacecraft. This production and delivery schedule will allow for efficient production flow through the manufacturing and testing facility for the satellites now in production and for those anticipated to be ordered during this year and next. Mr. Steve Christian For the Grand Central Records producer / DJ, see Steve Christian. Steven Raymond Christian (born June 26, 1951, Pitcairn Island) was the Mayor of the Pitcairn Islands, a British dependency in the Pacific Ocean, from 7 December 1999 to 30 October 2004. , Acting Managing Director of Optus Networks, said the additional satellite cements Optus' position in the Asia Pacific region as the industry leader as its business goes from strength-to-strength with a fleet of satellites that will be one of the youngest in operation. "The decision to build a third D-series satellite with Orbital follows increased demand for access, especially for television broadcast services with major broadcasting companies signing up for services that rely on the new Optus D3 satellite as part of a robust broadcasting future for Australia and New Zealand. We are looking forward to our continuing relationship with Orbital." Orbital's highly successful communications satellites are based on the company's STAR spacecraft platform, which is able to accommodate all types of commercial communications payloads. The STAR design is optimized for smaller satellite missions, generating up to five kilowatts of payload (1) Refers to the "actual data" in a packet or file minus all headers attached for transport and minus all descriptive meta-data. In a network packet, headers are appended to the payload for transport and then discarded at their destination. power. For many applications, the lighter-weight, more-affordable STAR design is an attractive alternative to the larger, more costly satellites offered by other suppliers. Orbital's STAR satellites are smaller and significantly less expensive to manufacture and launch. They are an ideal fit for established companies that require incremental capacity for their network or for customers in the early stages of building their business. About Optus Optus is an Australian leader in integrated communications, serving more than six million customers each day. The company provides a broad range of communications services including mobile, national and long distance services, local telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services as well as subscription television. More information about Optus can be found at http://www.optus.com.au About Orbital Orbital develops and manufactures small space systems for commercial, civil government and military customers. The company's primary products are satellites and launch vehicles This is a list of space launch vehicles sorted by country/operator in alphabetical order, commercial vehicles are listed under their corresponding country.
Brazil
More information about Orbital can be found at http://www.orbital.com |
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