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Astrium delivers Amazonas 2 satellite to launch site

* Amazonas 2 will provide a full range of telecommunications services to Brazil, and North and South America
* It will be launched from Kourou aboard the next Ariane 5 ECA flight

Toulouse, 31 August 2009

Astrium has completed the construction and tests of Amazonas 2, a powerful satellite which will increase the capacity offered by Hispasat on their American position to meet growing market demand. The satellite was air shipped from Toulouse to the Kourou space centre where it arrived on 28 August. It will be launched aboard the next Ariane 5 ECA flight.

Equipped with a payload of 64 transponders (54 active transponders in Ku-band and 10 in C-band), Amazonas-2 will provide a full range of telecommunications services to Brazil, and North and South America.

Evert Dudok, CEO of Astrium Satellites, said: “We are extremely pleased to support Hispasat, a long standing customer of Astrium, in their strategic expansion in the American markets.”

Amazonas 2 is the fourth satellite built by Astrium for Hispasat and is based on a Eurostar E3000 platform, the latest version of the highly successful Eurostar series.

The spacecraft has a launch mass of 5,450kg, a payload power of 12kW and a design lifetime of 15 years. Amazonas 2 will join in orbit the 16 E3000s already in service, and will be placed at the 61°W collocated with Amazonas 1 which has operated 51 transponders at that orbital location since 2004.

About Astrium

Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2008, Astrium had a turnover of €4.3 billion and 15,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2008, EADS generated revenues of €43.3 billion and employed a workforce of more than 118, 000.

About Hispasat

HISPASAT is now the seventh company in the world by revenue and leader in the broadcast and distribution of content in Spanish and Portuguese, with more than 1,100 radio and television channels, including the content of important digital platforms of DTH television, in Europe as well as America. In the 2008 fiscal year, the company, with net consolidated profit of 47 million euros and a Net Debt / EBITDA of 0.7, has broken a new historic record for the fifth year in a row in all its financial magnitudes.

Contacts for the media

Matthieu Duvelleroy
EADS Astrium (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 77 75 80 32

Daniel Mosely
EADS Astrium (UK)
Tel.: +44 (0)1 438 77 8180

Ralph Heinrich
EADS Astrium (GER)
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 607 33971

Francisco Lechón
EADS Astrium (ESP)
Tel.: +34 (0) 91 586 37 41

www.astrium.eads.net