SES to Launch Next Satellite in April 2006

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - SES Global said on Wednesday the first of two new satellites would be launched into space next April to boost the transmission capacity it offers to its customers, mostly being television broadcasters.

SES, the world’s biggest satellite operator, said its Astra 1KR satellite would be sent into orbit by a Lockheed Martin joint venture on an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The satellite would join seven others at an orbital position of 19.2 degrees East above Europe.

The second satellite to go up in 2006 will be an Astra 1L sometime in the fourth quarter, it added.

Story link: SES to Launch Next Satellite in April 2006