Inmarsat and Arabsat subsidiary Hellas-sat to Launch a Joint Satellite
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 5, 2014--Inmarsat and Arabsat subsiary company Hellas-sat today announce that they have signed an agreement together to launch a joint satellite into 390 E orbital location. The satellite will carry two missions; first, the S-band payload (designated ‘EuropaSat’), which represents Inmarsat’s commitment to deploy an integrated telecommunications network to deliver aviation passenger connectivity services on a EU-wide basis and a 44 Ku-band transponders payload designated ‘Hellas-sat 3’ for Hellas-sat, that will replace the existing Hellas-sat 2 satellite.
The satellite will be manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and work will commence immediately to be launched in 2016.
Khalid Balkheyour, Arabsat President & CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hellas-sat, said “ This agreement represents the first milestone in fulfilling our commitment to our shareholders to capture additional growth opportunities, especially after the acquisition of Hellas-sat . Hellas-sat-3 also represents our commitment to Hellas-sat’s existing and loyal customers and partners in maintaining and expanding their business and continue to establish 39deg E as one of the leading DTH hotspots in Europe. This is the first satellite contract among our announced 4 satellites’ program; Negotiations with Inmarsat started last November and was just recently concluded. The flexible design of our program’s bid in terms of process and selection criteria has allowed for this agreement to realise and to be carved out of the bid.”
Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat CEO, said, “North America has seen rapid take-up of in-flight passenger connectivity. The success of the GoGo air-to-ground network has already triggered the building of a second competing network by AT&T, one of the world’s largest telecommunications operators. Independent research predicts that in-flight connectivity services will be a multi-billion dollar revenue sector by 2020. Inmarsat’s initiative announced today represents a major new business opportunity that is expected to deliver incremental profitable growth in the years to come and to deliver a strong return on investment.”
Both Inmarsat and Arabsat agree that this joint satellite agreement will reduce significantly both parties’ costs over the three years of the project, according to a statement by both countries.
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