SHINAWATRA SATELLITE of Thailand has awarded Aerospatiale a $200 million contract to build the Thaicom 3 communications satellite. The spacecraft will have 12 Ku-band and 24 C-band transponders.

The contract award represents the first for a European company in the Asia Pacific region and was won against competition from Martin Marietta Astro Space, and Hughes, which built the Thaicom 1 and 2 satellites.

Source: Flight International