Atlas 5 to Launch Hellas Sat 2

Hellas-Sat Consortium Ltd., Nicosia, Cyprus, has signed a contract with International Launch Services (ILS), McLean, VA, to launch Hellas Sat 2 on an Atlas 5 during the first quarter of 2003. Hellas Sat 2 will be positioned at 39°E. Greece’s rights to that orbital slot expire in the spring of 2003, if they do not get a satellite on location. Hellas Sat 1, previously Kopernikus 3, was leased from Deutsche Telecom by Hellas Sat in June 2002, but is expected to exhaust its fuel by April 2003. An Atlas 5 401 (AV-002) will be used to launch Hellas Sat 2. Originally AV-002 was to launch Nimiq 2, which was moved to a Proton allow for Hellas Sat on Atlas 5. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hellas Sat 2 is an Astrium Eurostar E2000+ model. The 3450 kg (7603 lbm) spacecraft will carry 30 Ku-band transponders, with an expected life of 15 years. This first domestic satellite for Greece and Cyprus will be used to provide voice, internet, video and broadcast services to European and Balkan markets. The satellite will also be used to broadcast the Summer Olympics from Athens in 2004.

In January 1997 Intelsat contracted with Matra Marconi Space to build Intelsat K-TV. The contract was transferred to New Skies Satellites in May 1998, and renamed NSS-6. In March 1999 it was shipped to Kourou for launch on an Ariane 4 vehicle but returned to the factory after a defect was found in its solar arrays. New Skies cancelled the contract when the Asia/Pacific market collapsed. Intelsat again bought the stored satellite, renaming it to Intelsat APR-3, in February 2001, but with the requirement of launching on a Chinese CZ-3B as part of an agreement involving  Sino Satellite Communications Co. Ltd. (Sinosat). The U.S. State Department refused to issue the necessary export license, causing the contract to be rescinded in August 2001 with the satellite again being returned to storage.

As at October 27, 2002, Hellas Sat overdue financial commitments  to Astrium stood at 33.9m euros. In late October Astrium sent a letter to Hellas Sat threatening to place the satellite on hold, unless a launch contract was signed. Hellas Sat has invited tenders for a loan of US$120m from Standard Chartered Bank, ÁÂÍ ÁÌRÏ and ING. The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) could take up up to 25% of Hellas Sat, an investment worth US$12.5m.

Hellas-Sat’s partners include the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE), the Cypriot Company Avacom Net, the Cyprus Bank of Development, the Hellenic Aerospace Industry and Telesat Canada.

ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. with Russian companies Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia. ILS provides launch services on Atlas and Proton rockets.  

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