United Arab Emirates Second Comm Satellite Ready to Launch

Y1B, the second satellite of the United Arab Emirates’ space communications programme is ready to be launched on a Proton launcher from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Comprising two satellites and a ground segment, the Yahsat project is a complete commercial and military satellite communications system built by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) for the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat). Based in the UAE, Yahsat is a satellite communications operator and a pioneer in the field across the Middle East, Africa, South West Asia and Europe. The Yahsat system will offer innovative commercial solutions, including HDTV broadcasting, internet trunking via satellite, corporate data networks, and internet services for public and private users, as well as secure communications.

Astrium is responsible for the final integration of the two satellites and for delivery in orbit. Thales Alenia Space provided the payloads and is responsible for the space segment, including the launch of the satellites.

Astrium Services, with its partner Thales Alenia Space, is responsible for the ground segment, which comprises a network of ground terminals, and for a management system which provides remote control of all system hardware.

Astrium Services, in association with Thales Communication and Security, is also in charge of operating this system, providing ground segment maintenance and of training Emirati operators over a five-year period.

Y1B will deliver communications in Ka-band for both commercial and governmental users. It will provide high-data rate internet services for public and private users in the Middle East, Africa and South West Asia with state-of-the-art Ka-band multi spot-beam technology, achieving cost-effective bandwidth supply through 61 narrow spot beams. The governmental mission will bring a substantial increase in the total capacity available for the UAE secure communications over the Middle East, complementing the Y1A satellite.

With a launch mass of approximately 6,000 kg and a spacecraft power of 14 kW, Y1B has a design lifetime of more than 15 years. Like Y1A, Y1B was integrated by Astrium on a Eurostar E3000 platform and tested at its Toulouse site. More than 50 Eurostar satellites have now been launched and have accumulated over 400 years of successful in-orbit operation. Both commercial and military Ka-band payloads were built with state-of-the-art Ka-band multi spot-beam technology from Thales Alenia Space. Early orbit phase operations will be conducted by Astrium from its spacecraft control centre in Toulouse.

Yahsat provides multipurpose satellite solutions (government and commercial) for broadband, broadcast, military communications use across the Middle East, Africa and South West Asia. Based in Abu Dhabi, and wholly owned by Mubadala, Yahsat is the first company in the Middle East and Africa to offer multi-purpose satellite services:
•YahClick - the satellite broadband service
•YahSecure - the government satellite service
•YahLink - the satellite connectivity service
•YahService - end to end satellite solutions
•YahCarrier - satellite solutions for telecommunications carriers

Yahsat’s first satellite Y1A was successfully launched in April 2011, and is preparing to launch its second satellite Y1B in April 2012.

Astrium, the number one company in Europe for space technologies and the third in the world. In 2011, Astrium had a turnover close to €5 billion and 18,000 employees worldwide, mainly in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Astrium is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2011, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of € 49.1 billion and employed a workforce of over 133,000.

Space Systems/Loral-Built Satellite for Telesat Delivered to Baikonur Launch Base:

PALO ALTO, CA --- Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that the Nimiq 6 satellite, designed and built for Telesat, one of the world's leading satellite operators, has arrived at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, where it will be launched aboard a Proton Breeze M vehicle provided by International Launch Services (ILS).

"It takes more than a million man hours and hundreds of engineers and technicians working together as a team to build a satellite like Nimiq 6," said John Celli, President of Space Systems/Loral. "We are very pleased to have delivered Nimiq 6 to the launch base. This is a state-of-the art spacecraft that will enable Telesat to provide its customer, Bell TV, with improved performance to meet the growing demand for direct-to-home television in Canada."

Nimiq 6 is designed to provide a broad range of advanced video services to Bell TV's subscribers, including high-definition and other specialty video offerings. The satellite is based on the highly reliable Space Systems/Loral 1300 platform and will be positioned at 91.1 degrees West longitude. It has 32 Ku-band transponders which are fully contracted to Bell TV for 15 years.

"Telesat is very pleased with Space Systems/Loral's strong execution on the construction and delivery of the Nimiq 6 satellite," said Dan Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Telesat. "Nimiq 6 will allow Telesat's longstanding customer, Bell TV, to offer improved performance to its subscribers throughout all of Canada. Now that Nimiq 6 has safely arrived in Baikonur, we look forward to its launch with ILS next month and the start of commercial service."


Telesat is a leading global fixed satellite services operator providing reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions worldwide to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world, the company's state-of-the-art fleet consists of 12 satellites and the Canadian Ka-band payload on ViaSat-1, plus one satellite preparing for launch and another under construction.

Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. Through its Space Systems/Loral subsidiary, the company is a world-class leader in the design and manufacture of satellites and satellite systems for commercial and government applications including direct-to-home television, broadband communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring, and air traffic management. Loral also owns 64 percent of Telesat, one of the world's largest providers of satellite services.


Source: EADS Astrium & Space Systems/Loral; issued April 18, 2012

Photo: United Arab Emirates Yahsat's second satellite Y1B successfully launched (Photo by astrium.eads.net)

(19.04.2012)