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Astrium delivers ASTRA 3B satellite to launch site

* ASTRA 3B will broadcast television and radio and provide high-speed internet access to millions of households in Europe and the Middle East
* It will be launched from Kourou aboard the next Ariane 5 ECA flight

Kourou, 10 February 2010

The Astra 3B communications satellite for SES ASTRA arrived today in French Guiana, transported by an Antonov aircraft from Astrium’s Toulouse site, and will be prepared at the Kourou space centre for an Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch along with another Astrium satellite – ComsatBw2 for the German armed forces – at the end of March.

ASTRA 3B will be the third Astrium-built satellite to enter operation for SES ASTRA and one of a series of seven Eurostar E3000 satellites which the company will be operating by 2014, together with ASTRA 1M launched in November 2008, Astra 1N ordered in 2008 and currently in integration, and four more ordered at the end of last year.

ASTRA 3B is a state-of-the-art Ku and Ka-band spacecraft designed for the distribution of both direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services and two-way broadband services across Europe and the Middle East. It will be positioned at 23.5 degrees East, an increasingly important orbital position for SES ASTRA. The satellite can operate up to 60 transponders in Ku-band and 4 in Ka-band. It carries six mission antennas, four of which are side mounted and will be deployed in orbit. The payload power is 10 kW and the spacecraft launch mass 5,470 kilograms. ASTRA 3B has been designed for a nominal lifetime of 15-years.

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 more than 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.

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