The Nimiq 2 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) for Telesat Canada was shipped last week from production facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif. to Baikonur, Kazakhstan, where it will be readied for a late December launch aboard a Proton M/Breeze M booster provided by International Launch Services.

Nimiq 2, a high power Ku-band satellite, will provide direct broadcast services across Canada from its final orbital location at 91 degrees West longitude. The spacecraft features 32 active 24 MHz Ku-band transponders with 120 watt power amplifiers, and also has a Ka-band payload. Nimiq 2 is an A2100AX satellite, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, with a minimum service life of 12 years. The satellite's name -- chosen from 36,000 submissions in a national contest in 1998 -- is an Inuit word for any object or force that unites things or binds them together.

The A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs ranging from Ka band/broadband services, fixed satellite services in a Ku-band payload configuration, to high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum. The A2100's modular design features a reduction in parts, simplifying construction, increasing on-orbit reliability and reducing weight and cost.

About Telesat ( www.telesat.ca )

Telesat is the world's most experienced commercial satellite operator. The company made history in 1972 with the launch of the first domestic commercial communications satellite in geostationary orbit. Based in Ottawa, Canada, Telesat now provides telecommunications and broadcast distribution services throughout the Americas and is a leading consultant, operator and partner in satellite ventures around the globe. Telesat is a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc., one of the world's leading telecommunications companies.

About International Launch Services (ILS)

ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. in the United States, with Russian companies Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia. ILS provides launch services on the Proton and the Atlas vehicles to customers worldwide.

About Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems

Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems markets, designs and builds geostationary and non-geostationary telecommunications and remote sensing satellites for customers worldwide. LMCSS is an operating unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, one of the core business areas of the Lockheed Martin Corporation . Lockheed Martin has a 41-year heritage of building reliable spacecraft for commercial and military customers, having launched more than 875 spacecraft and clocking nearly 1,500 years of on-orbit performance experience.

For further information, please contact Steve Tatum of Lockheed Martin, +1-408-742-7531, pager, +1-888-926-2912, stephen.o.tatum@lmco.com

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin