The Canadian manufacturer MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has confirmed that it has agreed to manufacture a communications satellite for the National Space Agency of the Ukraine (NSAU) at a cost of US$254m. The project is being financed by a loan…
The Canadian manufacturer MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has confirmed that it has agreed to manufacture a communications satellite for the National Space Agency of the Ukraine (NSAU) at a cost of US$254m. The project is being financed by a loan from the Export Development Bank of Canada.
MDA will build the satellite, two ground stations and all associated ground infrastructure.
Don Osborne, the MDA vice president responsible for the project, said: “This is the second large win for MDA in the Commonwealth of Independent States. This opportunity is particularly exciting as it has brought together best in class Canadian information solutions with financing from EDC to meet the needs of the Ukraine National Space Agency.”
The spacecraft will have a traditional payload built for the purposes of TV broadcasting and internet backhaul. MDA and NSAU will finalise the technical specifications in the next few months.
The Ukrainian government has targeted the second half of 2011 for the launch of the satellite. It wants it to be operational in time for the European Championship football tournament that Ukraine is joint hosting with Poland in 2012.
This is the second major contract MDA has won in the region in recent months. It has also agreed a C$200m contract to build payloads for the Russian Space Communications Company (RSCC).
