ILS and MELCO contracted for launch of Turksat 4A and 4B satellites

The design life of 15-year on orbit service of the satellites will provide telecommunication and direct TV broadcasting services throughout Turkey, as well as in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Turksat AS satellite operator will use Turksat 4A at its core 42 degrees east orbital position. Turksat 4A would include Ku-band transponders for television broadcasting, and an undisclosed number of C- and Ka-band channels. Turksat 4B will be operated at 50 degrees east position.

Each satellite will weigh approximately 3800 kg, and will be built on MELCO’s DS2000 standard comsat platform.

The Proton vehicle, built by ILS majority owner Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, is Russia’s premier heavy-lift launcher and has a heritage of 363 flights since the 1960s. Proton has launched 29 successful consecutive missions since mid-2008.

ILS President, Frank McKenna said: “We are extremely pleased to be working with our new customer MELCO and look forward to integrating and launching Turksat 4A and Turksat 4B on ILS Proton. We are committed to MELCO in their responsibility to deliver both satellites on orbit on time for their customer, Turksat.”

Hiroyuki Inahata, head of space systems division for MELCO said: “We selected ILS based on their track record of reliability, precision, launch tempo and experience. ILS and Khrunichev’s reputation for quality assurance and delivery performance will be crucial to our delivery of the Turksat 4A and 4B satellites. We have been preparing mutual compatibility efforts with ILS for many years, and look forward to preparing to launch on the powerful ILS Proton vehicle, which satisfies the customer requirements.”

ILS is a world leader in providing launch services for global satellite operators and offers a complete array of services and support, from contract signing through mission management and on-orbit delivery. ILS has exclusive rights to market the Proton vehicle to commercial satellite operators worldwide and is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, VA., near Washington, D.C.

Khrunichev, which holds the majority interest in ILS, is one of the cornerstones of the Russian space industry. Khrunichev manufactures the Proton system and is developing the Angara launch system. The Proton launches from facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has a heritage of 363 missions since 1965. Khrunichev includes, among its branches, a number of key manufacturers of launch vehicle and spacecraft components in Moscow and in other cities of the Russian Federation.