Alcatel Gains $340M In Contracts

Alcatel Space received two contracts worth a combined $340 million to build communications satellites based on its Spacebus 3000B3 platform. One order, worth $190 million, was received from Brazilian satellite operator Star One to build the Star One C1, which will be launched by the end of 2005 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. Star One C1 will be the first satellite in the C series and have 37 transponders in the C- and Ku-bands.

The second order, worth $150 million, comes from RascomStar-QAF to build the first RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communication Organization) satellite dedicated to serve the African content. Alcatel will supply the satellite and infrastructure, including the mission, business, and ground control segments. The satellite will provide fixed voice, data, Internet access and broadcast satellite services to Africa using 12 Ku- and 6 C-band transponders.