Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd awarded Panamsat Corp. a $44.2 million contract to oversee the launch of the Measat 1R satellite, Measat announced March 10.

The spacecraft will be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Land Launch Zenit 3 SLB. The mission is an option that Panamsat had under an existing agreement with Land Launch, a collaboration of Sea Launch and Space International Services.

Measat 1R is being built by Orbital Sciences Corp. and will carry 12 Ku-band and 12 C-band active transponders along with three antennas. The new spacecraft will replace Measat-1 and provide C-band service throughout the Southeast Asia region with a global beam, while the Ku-band beams will serve direct-to-home broadcasting markets in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The launch is scheduled to take place between Nov. 1, 2007 and Jan. 29, 2008.