SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF THURAYA-3 SATELLITE
Thuraya, based out of United Arab Emirates, is a regional satellite phone provider that mainly focuses in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa, but is hoping to expand to East Asia, Australia and possibly South America.
Thuraya will embark on major expansion plans and cutting-edge mobile satellite services will be provided in the Asia-Pacific region in the first quarter of 2008. This was made possible when the third Geo-mobile satellite of Thuraya Satellite Telecom was successfully launched by Sea Launch. 99 Minutes after lift-off, spacecraft separation occurred at 1,388 miles above the Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand.
The Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off from the Odyssey Launch Platform placing Thuray-3 satellite into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The first signal from the spacecraft was acquired in a few minutes by a tracking station in Filllmore, California. The flight went normally.
In a press statement following the launch, Thuraya’s CEO Mr. Yousuf Al Sayed says, “The launch of Thuraya-3 is a significant milestone in the Company’s progress and growth, and in reinforcing Thuraya’s status as dynamic, world leading, multi-regional mobile satellite operator,” He also said that Thuraya has had a long and impressive history with Sea Launch. “We have launched three Geo-mobile satellites so far, all by Sea Launch, and all have been very successful,” said Al Sayed, adding that Thuraya is continuously expanding and Sea Launch has been instrumental in meeting Thuraya’s growing requirements.
He also added that the commercial launch is set for very early in 2008. The Company ahs completed all Ground network preparation for Thuraya-3 as well as signing commercial partnerships with several promising partners in Asia-Pacific: “Congratulations to Thuraya on the tremendous success of this mission,” said Rob Peckham, president and general manager of Sea Launch. “I also want to congratulate Boeing Satellite Systems and thank the entire Sea Launch team and all the people around the world who support us.
“We are proud to be supporting Thuraya’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific market with the launch of Thuraya-3. We especially appreciate Thuraya’s continued trust and confidence in our launch services and we look forward to future opportunities to support the growth of their business”, Peckham said.
Boeing provided a range of mobile voice and data services over large geographic regions by building the Thuraya-3 spacecraft. It will become operational as early as January, 2008, when Thuraya, the world’s largest provider of handheld mobile satellite services, will operate commercially in Asia-Pacific markets.
All Boeing satellites, including Thuraya 3 was built on a foundation of mission assurance and quality. It is the third satellite built for Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company by Boeing. Boeing technology has assisted Thuraya in providing mobile satellite services to over 100 countries with 2.3 billion population. Japan, China, Australia and Korea will be included in the new markets to be serviced by Thuraya-3 during their expansion. Mobile telephone services, transmitting, and receiving calls through each satellites 12.25 meter-aperture reflector is made possible by the Thuraya satellites. The system has the capacity for 25,120 simultaneous voice circuits.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 6:41 am and is filed under Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
