Reston, VA / Luxembourg, July 14, 2009 – ILS International Launch Services (ILS) and SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) today announced the execution of an agreement for the launch of QuetzSat-1 on an ILS Proton in 2011. QuetzSat-1 is under construction by Space Systems/Loral on behalf of SES Satellite Leasing Limited in the Isle of Man.
QuetzSat-1, built by Space Systems/Loral on the flight-proven SS/L 1300 platform, is a high power Ku-band satellite that will be located at the orbital position of 77 degrees West. QuetzSat-1 will provide coverage over Mexico, North America and Central America. The satellite is fully contracted to a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) and will be used in part by Dish Mexico, an EchoStar joint venture, for DTH services in Mexico. It is further expected that EchoStar and its Satellite Services division will provide capacity on QuetzSat-1 to a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) for use in connection with its U.S. DTH business.
Frank McKenna, President of ILS said, “ILS is dedicated to the success of SES and its customer, EchoStar, with the selection of ILS Proton to launch QuetzSat-1. This is the fourth SES satellite entrusted to ILS this year, and we look forward to providing outstanding quality, service and schedule assurance to support the continued growth of the SES satellite fleet.”
“We are pleased that ILS is partnering with SES, Space Systems/Loral and EchoStar in the Quetzsat-1 mission and look forward to a flawless, on-time and on-spec launch for QuetzSat-1 with ILS Proton,” said Martin Halliwell, President of SES ENGINEERING, the procurement and operations division of SES.
