BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan, April 20, 2011 – The Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 satellite was delivered today, ahead of schedule, for the start of its launch campaign. The spacecraft, built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) for Telesat, arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for commercial launch onboard a Proton Breeze M vehicle provided by International Launch Services (ILS).

Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 is a Ku-band satellite that will deliver services to Brazil, the Continental United States, the North Atlantic Ocean Region, as well as the Andean and Southern Cone region of South America.  The satellite has 46 Ku-band transponders and five antenna beams with on-orbit switching capability that will allow its capacity to be reconfigured depending on market demand.

Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 will be positioned at 63 degrees West longitude, replacing the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul satellite which was also built by SS/L. Based on the highly reliable SS/L 1300 platform, Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 has approximately 12-kW of end of life power and is designed to deliver service for 15 years or more.

The spacecraft will now undergo prelaunch processing, to be readied for launch in late May. The launch will mark the 1st ILS Proton launch in 2011 and 65th ILS Proton launch overall.