NewSat Signed Lockheed for Ka Band Satellite Project

NewSat chose Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems to manufacture its Jabiru 1 satellite. The independent Ka band satellite carrier plans to launch Jabiru-1 in the second half of 2014.

As one of the five state-of-the-art satellites to be launched by NewSat in the following years, Jabiru-1 will boast of advanced Ka band technology and Lockheed Martin's powerful A2100 series spacecraft. The satellite is designed to have an in-orbit life of 15 years and more than 7 GHz capacity. NewSat is yet to announce when the satellite construction will start.

The Jabiru-1 contract will further boost Lockheed Martin's position as global pioneer in spacecraft engineering. Jabiru-1 is poised to become one of the largest commercial satellites to serve the Australian market. It will also be Australia's first commercial satellite to be operated by an independent carrier.

NewSat was done with the initial payment and will continue with the milestone payments throughout the terms of the Jabiru-1 contract, said CEO Adrian Ballintine. U.S. Ex-Im Bank and Coface will provide the credit lines.

With US$279 million in sales contracts under its belt, NewSat is fulfilling its vision to become a global satellite operator. The Jabiru-1 fleet comprises five geostationary Ka band satellites that would be positioned over various continents around the world. Joseph Rickers, the president of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, is proud that Lockheed will play an instrumental role in expanding NewSat's Ka band capacity. He applauded the Australian satellite broadband carrier for pioneering advanced teleports and providing critical communications services customized for major industries. "Lockheed Martin's flexible and powerful A2100 satellite architecture is ideally suited for the Jabiru-1 mission, helping NewSat achieve their business objectives as a satellite operator," said Rickers.

Jabiru-1 will provide high speed satellite Internet and voice services to emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, especially in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Somalia. The Ka band payload is designed for enterprise-level and special communications needs, with support for VOIP, mobile backhaul, Internet on demand and videoconferencing. Customers can look forward to flexible bandwidth allocation, higher bandwidth, support for compact antennas and cost-effective wireless connectivity to meet the demands of the telecommunications, mining, oil, military, transportation and broadcast industries.

NewSat's saw a 5% stock price increase last week shortly after the contract was announced.

For more details, visit http://www.newsat.com/VSAT/broadband.html.

NewSat is an Australian satellite broadband carrier. It specializes in C, Ka and Ku band payload aimed at enterprise-level applications. It boasts of growing list of clients from the defense, mining, oil, Internet, mobile backhaul and wireless Internet industries.

Phone +61 09097332530

Address: Suite 6106, 7 Riverside Quay
Southbank Vic 3006 Australia

This release was published on openPR.