Bell’s growing DTH and specialty video distribution services in Canada will get a big boost when a new Ku-band satellite takes off next month.
The Nimiq 6 satellite, designed and built for Telesat by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), is reported to have 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). Its launch is expected in May.
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.
"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."
Loral owns 64 percent of Telesat, a major internatoinal provider of satellite services.
"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. Telesat also manages the operations of additional satellites for third parties. Privately held, Telesat's principal shareholders are Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc.
Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, has a long history of delivering reliable satellites and spacecraft systems for a broad range of services including television and radio distribution, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, and mobile communications.