Canada's Spar Aerospace will be the founding investor in the national direct broadcast satellite (DBS) company, the Borealis Group. Satellite transponder capacity will be offered from orbit in 1998.
Spar will link with the USA's CTA International, of Maryland, to build a fleet of lighter and less expensive 10-Ku band transponder communications satellites which will also offer broadband multimedia services. A second satellite will be launched in 1999.
"Canada is a market with a smaller potential subscriber base than the USA," says Colin Watson, Spar's president. "It makes no sense, buying a $300 million, 32-transponder satellite", he adds.
"The Borealis solution calls for smaller, less expensive, light satellites that can be built and launched quickly - as secondary payloads on larger vehicles, saving the time and cost associated without waiting for a dedicated launch," he adds.
The CTA satellite will be based on the Star satellite bus it is building for Indonesia's PT Mediacitra Indostar. Four Indostars will be built, starting in 1997, to provide the first DBS dedicated to radio and television for one nation. The Indostar weighs 1,420kg at launch - the first will be on an Ariane 4 - and 430kg on station.
Source: Flight International