ST. LOUIS, May 19, 2003 -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] has shipped the Thuraya-2 mobile communications satellite from its Boeing Satellite Systems manufacturing facility in El Segundo, Calif., to the Sea Launch Company, LLC Home Port in Long Beach, Calif., where it is being prepared for an early June launch.
The Boeing GEO-Mobile satellite is the second spacecraft built and shipped by Boeing Satellite Systems for Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The satellite will be lifted into orbit by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket from the Odyssey Launch Platform positioned on the equator in the Pacific Ocean.
"With its powerful digital signal processor and the ability to handle nearly 14,000 simultaneous phone calls, Thuraya-2 is one of the most advanced satellites we've delivered to-date," said Dave Ryan, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International. "I am fully confident that Thuraya-2 has the quality and reliability to support Thuraya's continued success providing vital mobile communications services to a vast portion of the globe."
Thuraya-2 will be located at the 44 degrees East orbital slot in geosynchronous Earth orbit. Thuraya-1, deployed by Sea Launch in October 2000, was the first Boeing-built GEO-Mobile spacecraft and is the heart of the Thuraya network. An end-to-end Boeing-built system, Thuraya provides mobile voice and data communication services to a region populated by some 2.3 billion people, serving more than 100 countries in Europe, the Middle East, North and Central Africa, the CIS countries and South Asia.
The Boeing Company is the world's leading aerospace company, with its heritage mirroring the history of flight. It is the largest manufacturer of satellites, commercial jetliners and military aircraft. The company is also a global market leader in missile defense, human space flight and launch services.