Alcatel to Supply Communication Satellites Equipment to Russia

The Russian Space Communications state-owned unitary company and French Alcatel Space of the city of Toulouse have signed a contract for the manufacture and supplies of equipment for the new Russian Express-AM2 and Express-AM3 communications satellites. According to the Space Communications' press service, the two payload modules being made by Alcatel Space will be installed by the maker of the Express-AM sattelite platform, the Applied Mechanics company of Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

The modules will be used for digital radio and TV transmissions, satellite telephone communications, Internet connections, and in VSAT-based communication networks created in Russia, CIS, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This is not the first time Alcatel Space developes andmakes communication equipment for Russia's spacecraft.

The Space Communications company is Russia's national space communications operator, accounting for 83% of domestic market. With its satellite fleet of 10, the company is the largest in Russia. The company creates regional satellite radio and TV distribution networks, provides space communications services to companies and individuals, and the wide spectre of other VSAT-based communication services. It is also in controlling and monitoring Express-A, Eutelsat, LMI, and Intelsat series satellites.

The Alcatel Space company belongs to the French Alcatel telecommunications concern. It is world's third largest and Europe's largest manufacturer of satellites. Alcatel Space is also Europe's largest supplier of equipment used for the monitoring of the surface of the Earth, meteorological observations, navigation, and also spacecraft on-board systems. In 2001, the company's turnover amounted to EUR 1.4 billion.