Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the leading telecom services company in Indonesia, PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia TbK (Telkom), to build a new telecommunications satellite. Telkom-3S will increase the operator’s C-band capacity from its orbital position at 118° East, and will also offer HDTV channels and remote GSM/Internet services in Ku-band.

Thales Alenia Space will be prime contractor on the project, with responsibility for the design, construction, testing and in-orbit delivery of the satellite. It is also to source the launch and early orbital positioning phase (LEOP) and in-orbit tests (IOT). In addition, Thales Alenia Space will supply control center components and will train a team of engineers on site.

Built on Thales Alenia Space’s new-generation Spacebus 4000B2 platform, Telkom-3S will be fitted with 24 C-band transponders, 8 extended C-band transponders, and 10 Ku-band transponders. The C-band payload will cover Indonesia and Southeast Asia, while the extended C-band payload will cover both Indonesia and part of Malaysia. The Ku-band payload will specifically cover Indonesia.

Launch will be towards the end of 2016, and will have an expected life of 15 years.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. Virgin Galactic in stock split
2. Thuraya-3 suffers major problem
3. AST SpaceMobile hit by Class Action
4. Optimism under threat at SES
5. Rivada visits Terran Orbital’s manufacturing HQ
6. Avanti wins spectrum debt obligation case
7. SpaceX breaks records for re-use launchers
8. IRIS2 already in trouble?
9. Intelsat contemplates next steps

Categories: Blogs, DTH/Satellite, Inside Satellite