Jabiru-2 construction complete

The construction of NewSat’s Jabiru-2 satellite has successfully been completed and the satellite is now in storage preparing for a 2014 launch.

Chief Technology Officer, David Ball noted, “We are pleased Jabiru-2 construction is complete and look forward to working with MEASAT as we continue to prepare for launch.”

Jabiru-2 was photographed during the pre-shipment review that took place this month. A large geostationary satellite, the MEASAT 3b satellite which hosts the Jabiru-2 payload has been built on the Astrium Eurostar 3000 platform. A reliable supplier, Astrium currently have 54 satellites in orbit, 12 under construction and this year accumulated more than 470 years’ successful operation in orbit.

“There is a lot of interest in Jabiru-2. Jabiru-2 will further facilitate NewSat’s services across the emerging and growth regions of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands. With high intensity zones and its focused capacity, Jabiru-2 will enable NewSat to deliver the high-quality, exceptional services our customers expect,” said Chief Commercial Officer, Scott Sprague.

Jabiru-2 is currently in storage at Astrium’s Toulouse site in France and once a launch date in H1 2014 is confirmed, the satellite will be securely transported from Toulouse to the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.

Jabiru-2 will be launched by Arianespace on the industry leading Ariane 5 launch vehicle and reside in orbital slot 91.5⁰ E. The satellite will have a 15-year contractual in-orbit mission life, a launch mass of approximately 6 tonnes, a wingspan of 40m once its solar arrays are deployed in orbit, and a spacecraft power of 16 kW.