MEASAT Expands Satellite Fleet

 

 

7 June 2011

 

MEASAT Global Bhd has entered into a contract with Astrium SAS (“Astrium”) for the procurement of the MEASAT-3b satellite. The agreement was executed by a MEASAT Global subsidiary company.

Based on the Eurostar E3000 platform, MEASAT-3b will provide an additional 48 Ku-Band transponders to the 91.5°E orbital location. Designed to operate in tandem with the MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3a spacecraft, the new satellite will provide high powered Ku-Band capacity for Direct-To-Home (“DTH”) and Broadband VSAT services across Malaysia, Indonesia and India. The satellite has also been designed to support a fourth market. MEASAT-3b will have a contractual life of 15 years and is expected to be launched end 2013. The program is expected to cost around RM1bn.

“By more than doubling our Ku-Band capacity at 91.5°E, MEASAT-3b will allow the Group to continue to meet the increasing requirements of our DTH and telecommunication customers in Malaysia and across the region,” said Datuk Umar bin Haji Abu, Chairman, MEASAT Global Bhd. “Co-located with the MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3a spacecraft, MEASAT-3b will also add further redundancy to our fleet creating the region’s most robust satellite network able to provide the highest levels of service assurance to our customers.”

MEASAT currently supports five (5) DTH platforms across Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Brunei providing PayTV services to more than 10 million households. The new satellite will allow the company to expand its support to existing customers while supporting the growth into new markets.