Alcatel Space Industries, on behalf of SkyBridge LP, has signed a launch contract with Starsem to launch 32 SkyBridge satellites on 11 Soyuz/ST-Fregat launch vehicles, each carrying three satellites, beginning in 2002. Also included in the contract are options for additional launch services as required by SkyBridge. As part of the agreement, Starsem will become an equity partner in the SkyBridge project.

Boeing Delta Launch Services previously contracted to launch 40 of the 80 satellites of the SkyBridge constellation. That agreement calls for 2 Delta III vehicles, each carrying 4 satellites, and 4 Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) vehicles, each carrying 8 satellites. It also includes provisions for optional launch services as required by SkyBridge. The agreement with Boeing, also included an agreement for Boeing to become an equity partner in SkyBridge.

The launch agreements SkyBridge has signed with Boeing and Starsem account for the launch of 72 of the 80 satellites in the constellation, not counting spares or O&M (replenishment operations and maintenance).

The SkyBridge constellation will consist of 80 satellites (plus spares). There will be 2 identical sub-constellations of 40 satellites each with 20 planes, each containing 4 satellites. All 80 satellites are in a circular orbit at an altitude of 1469 km (913 miles), with an inclination of 53°. The satellites will be injected into orbit at an initial altitude of 940 km. As the injection plane rotates with respect to the nominal orbital plane and aligns with the nominal plane, the satellites will be boosted to their operational orbit at 1469 km. The launch mass of each satellite is expected to be about 1250 kg, of which 400 kg will be the communications payload.

France issued a license to SkyBridge on February 9, to use the Ku band (10.7 to 12.75 GHz downlink, 12.75-14.5 GHz band uplink). Both Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) and Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) will be utilized for efficient use of the spectrum. Each satellite will have 18 spot-beams, i.e. uplink and downlink beams for both the forward and return links. SkyBridge is primarily designed to support broadband interactive multimedia applications. The SkyBridge constellation is designed to handle the traffic exchanged by over 20 million equivalent users. The equivalent capacity of the system, defined as the cumulative instantaneous broadband traffic at respective peak hours, is over 200 Gbps.

SkyBridge LP was incorporated in Delaware in February 1997. The general partner of SkyBridge LP is controlled by Alcatel. SkyBridge filed an application with the FCC for authority to launch and operate their satellite system on February 28, 1997; a subsequent amendment was filed on July 3, 1997. The application was formally accepted for filing in August 1997.

The space segment of SkyBridge is expected to cost US$ 4.2 billion, and the ground segment an additional US$ 1.9 billion. Partners and investors in SkyBridge include: Alcatel (France), Boeing (USA), Loral Space & Communications (U.S.), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Sharp Corporation (Japan), Toshiba Corporation (Japan), EMS Technologies (USA), COM DEV International (Canada), CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) (France), SRIW (Société Régionale d'Investissement de Wallonie) (Belgium), and SNECMA (France).

More information:

• Soyuz Data Sheet
• SkyBridge Data Sheet
• Boeing Delta IV Data Sheet

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