Telesat’s New Anik G1 Satellite Begins Commercial Service

 May 8, 2013

Telesat, announced today the start of commercial service on its new Anik G1 satellite. Anik G1 carries 16 extended Ku-band transponders fully contracted to Shaw Direct for 15 years. Anik G1 also has three X-band transponders that are fully contracted to Astrium Services for 15 years to support government applications across the Americas and much of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii. 

Anik G1 is also bringing new capacity over South America to meet the growing demand for satellite communications services in that region. It will be co-located with Telesat’s Anik F1 satellite at 107.3 degrees West where it will effectively double both the C-band and Ku-band transponders serving South America from this orbital location.  

“The start of commercial service on Anik G1 fulfills important objectives for Telesat and our customers,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “We’re pleased to have a significant portion of Anik G1’s capacity fully contracted for 15 years to Shaw Direct and Astrium Services. Telesat is also pleased to be bringing additional C-band and Ku-band capacity to South America, a region with growing demand for satellite services. We expect Anik G1 will make meaningful contributions to Telesat’s growth in 2013 and beyond given its coverage, capabilities and customer commitments. I would like to congratulate the teams at Telesat and SSL whose dedication and expertise enabled the start of commercial service on this powerful, new satellite just three weeks after launch, an impressive technical achievement.”  

Anik G1 was manufactured by SSL and is based on SSL’s highly reliable 1300 platform. The satellite was launched by an ILS Proton rocket on April 16, 2013 local time from the Baikonur Space Center in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Anik G1 has a manufacturer’s service life of 15 years, a launch mass of approximately 4900 kg, and will operate from the 107.3 degrees West orbital location. Orbit raising, in-orbit testing and delivery to 107.3 degrees West were completed in only three weeks due to the use of Telesat’s innovative in-orbit testing system and close cooperation between SSL and Telesat.