OTTAWA – Telesat announced Thursday it will begin commercial service of its Nimiq 4 satellite on October 11.
The satellite is fully leased to Bell TV, which will use it to enhance and expand its high-definition (HD) television channels across Canada.
“Telesat has achieved an important milestone with the entry into service of Nimiq 4,” said Telesat’s President and CEO Dan Goldberg. “Nimiq 4 will expand the high quality digital video services, including HD services, Bell TV is able to offer all Canadians, and is expected to make a significant contribution to Telesat’s financial results for many years in the future.”
Telesat’s Nimiq 4 payload consists of 32 active high power transponders in Ku-band and eight transponders in Ka-band.
Nimiq 4 operates from the 82 degrees West orbital position and has an estimated mission life of 15 years.
Manufactured by EADS Astrium, the Nimiq 4 was launched on September 20 on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Transfer orbit, in-orbit testing and traffic transfer was completed in less than three weeks.
