SSPI Timeline: 2003 – Hellas-Sat 2

May 13, 2003: The launch of Hellas-Sat 2 aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket put Cyprus’s first satellite into GEO orbit. It was owned by the Hellas Sat Consortium, a Greece-Cyprus venture majority-owned by the Greek national carrier OTE. An Astrium Eurostar-2000 satellite weighing 3.6 tons (3250kg) and carrying 30 Ku-band transponders suitable for direct-to-home television, Hellas-Sat went through multiple owners before reaching space. It was ordered by Intelsat, transferred prior to delivery to New Skies Satellites in 1988, then sold back to Intelsat in 2001. Unable to obtain an export license from the US government for launch on a Chinese Long March rocket, Intelsat cancelled the acquisition and, in 2002, the satellite was sold to the Hellas Sat Consortium

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The SSPI Satellite Timeline is the first interactive site on the Web to chronicle the rich and diverse history of the commercial satellite industry. Launched in October 2007 – the 50th anniversary of Sputnik – the Timeline is a learning tool for satellite professionals, students, the news media and the innovative companies that make up the industry