Intelsat 22

Intelsat 22 [BSS]

Intelsat Ltd. announced in April 2009 its plan to add a new satellite to its global fleet. The Intelsat 22 (IS 22) communications satellite is expected to be launched in Q1 2012, and will serve at the 72° East longitude orbital location over the Indian Ocean region. The satellite was ordered in July 2009.

The design of the Intelsat 22 payload is optimized to address high growth service areas, to provide continuity of services and to support Intelsat's strategic initiatives. The satellite will supply 48 C- and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz equivalent transponders to network services and media customers in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, providing incremental capacity for commercial and government applications. The Intelsat 22 satellite will feature custom-tailored beams to meet traffic patterns in these high-demand regions including C-band capacity for Africa and Asia, and an ability to cross-connect between the two regions. Its Ku-band payload will provide coverage of the Middle East and East Africa, with connectivity into Europe. The Ku-band payload will include a mobility beam bridging South East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the coastline of Africa that will support Intelsat's global mobility strategy for maritime and aeronautical applications.

Intelsat announced in April 2009 that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has agreed to purchase a specialized UHF communications payload aboard the Intelsat 22 satellite. As part of the 'hosted payload' contract valued at approximately $167 million, Intelsat will arrange for the construction and integration of the UHF payload with its satellite. Under the agreement, Intelsat is expected to operate the ADF payload and provide related services for 15 years following the launch.

The satellite, to be built by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, will be based on a Boeing BSS-702MP bus and will have 48 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz equivalent transponders, plus a UHF payload with eighteen 25-kHz channels. The UHF band is widely deployed for military satellite communications because of its adaptability to small, mobile terminals used by ground, sea and air forces. The ADF is purchasing part of the UHF payload and has an option to purchase the remainder.