Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), announced that it won a contract to build the Terrestar-2 Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spacecraft for Terrestar Networks Inc.

Terrestar’s two-satellite system, which includes the TerreStar-1 satellite under construction at SS/L, will work in conjunction with an ancillary terrestrial component network to provide next-generation mobile voice and data communications, monitoring, and messaging services throughout the United States and Canada.

Scheduled for delivery in 2009, Terrestar-2 will have a service life of 15 years and carry an MSS payload featuring a large unfurlable reflector. The satellite will generate hundreds of spot beams covering the continental United States, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.