International Launch Services (ILS) received a contract from Telesat to launch the Nimiq 4 satellite on a Proton Breeze M vehicle, ILS announced Jan. 17. Financial terms were not disclosed.

ILS, a Lockheed Martin joint venture, is scheduled to launch the satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2008. The Nimiq 4 spacecraft is a Eurostar E3000 model built by EADS Astrium, similar to Telesat’s Anik F1R satellite launched on a Proton vehicle in September 2005, and the Anik F3 spacecraft set for a Proton launch this year.

ILS also launched Nimiq 1 in 1999 and Nimiq 2 in 2002 on Protons.