NSAB is 75 percent owned by SES Astra, an SES Global company and 25 percent owned by SSC (Swedish Space Corp.). The Sirius 4 procurement and launch mission are being managed by SES Astra on behalf of NSAB.

The contract calls for a launch on board the Proton vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in the second quarter of 2007.

The high-powered Sirius 4 spacecraft, which will feature 52 Ku-band transponders, as well as a 2-transponder Ka-band payload, is currently under construction with Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) for operation at NSAB's orbital position of 5 degrees East.

ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., and Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia - the builder of the Proton vehicle.

Mark Albrecht, President of ILS, stated: "We are most delighted to have NSAB join the long list of international satellite operators that have selected ILS and Proton to provide their launch services.

"We look forward to working with the NSAB team, which includes SES Astra and Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, on this program. We are also pleased to again work with the SES Global family of companies. With Sirius 4, ILS has launched or has contracts to launch for 15 satellites for the SES Global companies."

Per Norman, General Manager of NSAB, said: "Sirius 4's advanced broadcasting capabilities and extensive reach into the Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European markets as well as sub-Saharan Africa will further complement the SES satellite fleet covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"Given Proton's impressive track record of successful launches for 12 satellites in the SES fleet, we are very comfortable to entrust ILS with this important launch mission."

Sirius 4: Multi-mission European and African coverage
The first mission of Sirius 4 will be to provide replacement capacity for NSAB's existing Sirius 2 and Sirius 3 satellites in the Nordic and Baltic markets as well as to enhance coverage in Eastern Europe and Russia. This mission is supported by 46 active Ku-band transponders in the BSS and FSS frequency bands.

As a second mission Sirius 4 will provide one wide-beam Ka-band transponder for interactive applications in Scandinavia and the Baltic States.

The third mission of Sirius 4 will be to provide a sub-Saharan Africa beam complementing existing (Astra 2B) or upcoming (Astra 4A) African coverage within the SES Global fleet.

This mission will be supported by a payload consisting of 6 active Ku-band transponders and an additional Ka-band transponder for inter-connections between Africa and Europe.

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