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Successful launch of Express-AM44 & Express-MD1 telecom satellites with Thales Alenia Space

11 February 2009

Cannes, February 11, 2009 - The AM44 telecommunication satellite has been successfully launched today by a Proton-M rocket from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ISS Reshetnev (formerly NPO-PM) is the satellite prime contractor and platform provider. Thales Alenia Space built the payload. The Express-AM44 satellite, dedicated to the Russian Satellite Communication Company (RSCC), was launched with its Express-MD1 co-passenger, also equipped with a Thales Alenia Space payload on board a Khrunichev satellite.

The Express-AM44 satellite is designed to provide digital TV and radio broadcasting, telephony, data transmission channels, videoconferencing services and Internet access. The satellite will be also used to deploy communication networks, via VSAT technology.

The AM44 carries 16 actives transponders in Ku-band, 10 in C-band, and 1 in L-band. It is equipped with 4 antennas requiring high technology know how: three steerable antennas for C and Ku-band as well as a L-band network antenna. It weight about 2.6 tons at launch, have a 6 kW electrical power end of life and will be positioned at 11° West.

The Express-MD1 satellite is designed to provide TV, voice and data transmission and radio broadcasting services over an area spanning Russia and most of the CIS countries. It will be positioned at 53° East.

Reynald Seznec, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space said: "Since the start of its collaboration with Russian partners in the mid-1990s, Thales Alenia Space has supplied or is in the process of building a total of 16 communication payloads* in partnership with Russian companies. This launch is very important as it is the first double launch by direct injection in the Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) with two Thales Alenia Space payloads".

*To date, Thales Alenia Space has been selected to deliver, in Russia, 2 satellites for Gazprom Space Systems, 11 payloads for Express-AM and Express-A platforms, 4 for Express-MD platforms (Express-MD1, Express-MD2, Express-MD3/KazSat-1, KazSat -2, AMOS-5) as well as 2 repeaters equipment for Loutch platforms.

About Thales Alenia Space
European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups' "Space Alliance". Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecoms, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. The company has a total of 7,200 employees and 11 industrial sites, with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.