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Thor 6 ready to be shipped to Kourou

24 September 2009

Telecommunication satellite built by Thales Alenia Space

Cannes, September 24, 2009 – The Thor 6 satellite, of Telenor Satellite Broadcasting AS, a subsidiary of Norway’s telecommunication provider Telenor, is ready to be shipped to Kourou in French Guyana by an Ariane 5. The launch is scheduled on October 29, 2009. Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor of the spacecraft which will be launched by Arianespace for service over Nordics and Central European regions from 1 degree West Longitude orbital location. Thor 6 is scheduled to leave the Thales Alenia Space Cannes plant on September 28.

Based on Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000 B2 platform, Thor 6 has a launch mass of 3,050 kg at launch and is fitted with 36 Ku-band transponders. This 7 Kw bird will provide high power services over Europe during a minimum of 15 years lifetime.

THOR 6 will provide high power Direct-To-Home (DTH) television broadcasting services. It will replace Thor 3, which is set to retire in 2010, and also provide additional transponder capacity.

Emmanuel Grave, VP Telecommunication for Thales Alenia Space, comments: “Thor 6 is the first Telenor satellite built by a European company. Thales Alenia Space is particularly proud of the confidence made by Telenor for the most powerful satellite of its fleet. The satellite has been manufactured and delivered in time after 24 months. Ready for shipment from beginning of May 2009, Thor 6 is now ready to go to Kourou and meet its rendez vous with its launcher”.

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, which achieved revenues of Euro 2 billion in 2008, has a total of 7,200 employees located in 11 industrial sites in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
www.thalesaleniaspace.com

Thales Alenia Space Press Contacts
Florence Pontieux - Tel: +33 (0)1 57 77 91 26 - florence.pontieux@thalesaleniaspace.com
Sandrine Bielecki - Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 70 94 - sandrine.bielecki@thalesaleniaspace.com