Optus D2 satellite launched

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 07 October 2007 15:40

Business IT - Networking

Optus has launched the second of three planned D series satellites, built by Orbital Sciences. Hopefully it has not repeated the mistake which, reportedly, compromised the performance of the first.

Optus gave little indication in its announcement, of what services the new satellite would provided, saying, unhelpfully, that it "further expands Optus' existing satellite fleet, providing unique communications capabilities unmatched by any other telecommunications company in Australia." However it will replace the existing B3 satellite which has been in operation since 1994. The launch comes almost a year later than originally scheduled.

Optus also announced, in June 2006, that it would invest $35 million over two years to develop a new technical facility in Canberra housing a satellite earth station, data centre and an exchange to support mobile, local and international telephony, Internet, subscription television, and satellite services. The facility was scheduled to come into operation in 2007 and to be the primary earth station for the Optus D2 satellite

The launch comes almost a year to the day since the launch of Optus D1.   Both satellites are based on Orbital's Star platform and will each carry 24 Ku band transponders, with eight back-up channels. However shortly after the launch of D1 there were reports that an error had been made in configuring the antennas that would compromise the delivery of broadcast TV services to New Zealand subscribers. The severity of the problem was never revealed, but iTWire was reliably informed that Optus would lodge a partial loss claim with the insurers.

Earlier this year, Optus announced plans to launch a third D series satellite, saying the decision was the result of continued demand especially for television broadcast services. It is scheduled to be delivered in 2009.