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Communications satellite for Indonesia launched from French Guiana Nov 23, 2005 12:06 PM
Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) has announced that the Telkom-2 commercial communications satellite was successfully launched into its targeted orbit aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on Nov. 16 from the spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana. The Telkom-2 satellite was then deployed into a geosynchronous (GEO) transfer orbit 34 minutes after lift off. Initial communications with the satellite was established and it was performing as expected in the early stages of the mission. The satellite was built by the company for PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. The Telkom-2 satellite will operate in C-band from its orbital location at 118 degrees or 108 degrees East longitude. It is designed to provide fixed satellite services to a region including all of Indonesia, as well as areas of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In addition to providing its state-of-the-art STAR spacecraft bus, Orbital also supplied the payload and is supplementing PT Telkom's existing ground segment with a new ground station and upgraded hardware and software. The Telkom-2 launch is the third Orbital-built commercial communications satellite to be deployed in 2005, following the successful launch and in-orbit check-out of the Galaxy 14 and 15 satellites for PanAmSat Corporation. Following the launch, the Telkom-2 was scheduled to perform a series of orbit-raising burns of its onboard rocket engine to achieve a circular orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. For several weeks afterward, the mission's engineering team will conduct comprehensive tests to ensure the spacecraft is ready for final hand-over to PT Telkom, which is scheduled to occur in December. OSC has received four firm and one optional order for its Star-based GEO satellites this year. The company was recently selected for its fourth order of the year by MEASAT Satellite Systems of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to build the MEASAT-1R spacecraft.
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