Intelsat has entered into two new agreements, one with Maxar Technologies whereby Maxar will build and deliver four satellites, and another with Northrop Grumman under which Northrop will build and deliver two satellites. Intelsat also is in negotiations with manufacturers for a seventh satellite required to support its C-band transition.
The contract was previously disclosed with Maxar’s 2020 first quarter results. Intelsat ordered the satellites to transition its existing media distribution and contribution services uninterrupted from the 3.7 to 4.0 GHz portion of the C-band to the 4.0 to 4.2 GHz portion, as part of the US Federal Communications Commission plan to reallocate 300 MHz of C-band spectrum for 5G terrestrial wireless services.
Under the agreement, Maxar will deliver the Galaxy 31, Galaxy 32, Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 satellites in 2022. The satellites will provide primarily video distribution services to customers in the continental US.
The Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34 will be based on Northrop Grumman’s GEOStar platform and launch also in mid-2022. Northrop Grumman has previously built 11 GEO communications satellites for Intelsat and more than 40 GEOStar spacecraft overall.
