ABS-2 Satellite Successfully Launched from Kourou, French Guiana

Moscow, February 7, 2014. Intersputnik announces that on February 6 at 18:30 local time (on February 7 at 01:30 Moscow time) the ABS-2 satellite was successfully launched into space from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on an Ariane ECA launch vehicle.

Manufactured by Space Systems/Loral ABS-2 features up to 89 active C, Ku and Ka-band transponders across 10 different beams including those covering the Middle and Central East, South and South-East Asia, Asia-Pacific region. ABS-2 will be deployed and operated in Intersputnik is prime location of 75 degrees East with the coverage of substantial part of the Russian Federation.

«We are delighted with the launch of ABS-2 satellite, our first satellite launch,» said Tom Choi, CEO of ABS. «Our customers are looking forward to the new capacity on ABS-2 at 75E, a new state of the art satellite serving the Eastern hemisphere.»

«We are satisfied with our constructive cooperation with ABS, which will be further continued on ABS-2 using orbital frequency resource in the Intersputnik slot at 75 degrees East,» said Victor Veshchunov, Intersputnik Executive Director. «Availability of high energy transponders in the Russian beam of ABS-2 will allow us to implement new large scale projects, including direct-to-home TV broadcasting.»