[5/9/07] Orbital Sciences received a contract from SES Americom to manufacture the AMC-5R satellite, a ground spare and up to three more spacecraft, Orbital announced May 8.
 
AMC-5R and the ground spare will be based on Orbital’s Star-2 platform, and are scheduled to be delivered in mid- and late 2009, respectively. Each satellite will carry 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders. A portion of each frequency payload will be cross-strapped, allowing signals to be transmitted to the satellite in one frequency and received in the other.

The contract includes options for up to three more satellites throughout the next five years.