[Michael]

Intelsat 907, located in a prime orbital slot to provide Africa with a robust, ever-expanding video community, was successfully launched on 15 February aboard an Ariane 44L vehicle. The satellite is expected to be fully operational in March.

The Intelsat 907 launch is the seventh in an eight-satellite campaign to replace and to enhance system capacity by the end of 2003. The 907 satellite will be deployed at 332.5ºE and will offer capacity for telephony, corporate networks, Internet, video and hybrid space/terrestrial solutions to customers on its 76 C-band and 22 Ku-band transponders (measured in 36MHz equivalent units). The satellite will provide high power Ku-band spot beam coverage for Western Europe and West Africa and additional C-band capacity to customers in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

The high power and coverage area of the Intelsat 907 satellite makes it ideal to support corporate VSATs, broadcast content distribution and broadband applications, including high-speed Internet access, multicasting and streaming.

"The successful launch of the Intelsat 907 represents the completion of our IX Series launches," commented Intelsat, Ltd CEO Conny Kullman. "Launching seven satellites in 20 months is a huge accomplishment for Intelsat and of immense significance for our customers worldwide who are the beneficiaries of the enhanced coverage and increased power of these spacecraft."

The Intelsat 907 satellite will replace the Intelsat 605, which currently holds the 332.5ºE orbital slot, although the latter will be moved to a new location at 330.5ºE to support additional customer demand also in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

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