Lockheed Martin to Construct NewSat's Jabiru-1 Satellite
The contract for the construction of the much anticipated Jabiru-1 satellite of NewSat was awarded to Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems.
- New York, NY (1888PressRelease) December 12, 2011 - Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems has closed a contract with NewSat (Australia) for the manufacturing of the latter's Jabiru 1 satellite. NewSat expects to launch the satellite in the second half of 2014.
Jabiru-1 will be one of the five state-of-the-art satellites to be launched by Newsat in the following years. Utilizing advanced Ka band technology and Lockheed Martin's proven A2100 series spacecraft, Jabiru-1 will boast of in-orbit life of 15 years and more than 7 GHz capacity. The construction is expected to commence soon.
The contract will further strengthen the position of Lockheed Martin as a world leader in spacecraft engineering since Jabiru will be Australia's first commercial satellite operated by an independent carrier.
According to NewSat CEO Adrian Ballintine, the company has completed the initial payment and will continue with the milestone payments throughout the terms of the contract. NewSat secured credits from U.S. Ex-Im Bank and Coface to carry out the deal, with full support from Lockheed Martin.
With US$279 million in sales contracts, NewSat sees its vision of being a global satellite operator becoming a reality. Jabiru-1 will kick-start the flagship fleet of NewSat comprising 5 Ka band satellites in total. Joseph Rickers, the president of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, commends NewSat for its state-of-the-art teleports and extensive range of critical communications services for several industries. "Lockheed Martin's flexible and powerful A2100 satellite architecture is ideally suited for the Jabiru-1 mission, helping NewSat achieve their business objectives as a satellite operator," said Rickers.
Jabiru-1 will serve the emerging markets in Middle East, Africa and Asia, including Iraq, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The Ka band payload is designed for enterprise-level and special communications needs, including satellite Internet, VOIP and backhaul support . The satellite will feature flexible bandwidth allocation, higher bandwidth and support for compact antennas and dishes, providing cost-effective wireless connectivity for telecommunications, mining, oil, military, transportation and broadcast industries.
NewSat's stock price increased by 5% on the day the deal was announced.
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