Space International Services and Sea Launch Company are pleased to announce the award of a firm launch contract with Israel Aircraft Industries utilizing the Land Launch system. The delivery-in-orbit agreement requires a Zenit-3SLB vehicle to launch the AMOS-3 communications satellite to geostationary orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, in the 4th Quarter of 2007.
The AMOS-3 spacecraft will have both Ku-band and Ka-band transponders and will consist of fixed as well as steerable beams, to provide broadcast and communications services to Europe, the Middle East and the East Coast of the United States. It has a planned operational lifetime of 12 years.
Built by Israel Aircraft Industries’ MBT Space Division, AMOS-3 will be located at a final orbital position of 4 degrees West Longitude, where it will join existing co-located satellites AMOS-1 and AMOS-2. AMOS-3 eventually will replace AMOS-1 when it comes to its operational end-of-life, currently expected in 2008. The AMOS system is owned and operated by Space-Communication Ltd. (Spacecom).
As with other Land Launch missions, this third commercial mission under contract for launch in 2007 will have both the satellite and the launch vehicle processed and launched from existing Zenit processing and launch facilities at the Baikonur launch complex. Optimizing on heritage hardware, systems and expertise, Land Launch uses a Zenit-3SLB version of the reliable Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket.
