Thor 6, the latest satellite from the Norwegian Telenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc), has been successfully released into orbit from its launch site at the French Guiana Spaceport of Kourou. The new satellite will take over from its ancestor Thor III which will be retired in 2010.
Thor 6 was built by Thales Alenia Space and will deliver service over the Nordic and Central European region. The satellite will offer high powered direct-to-home (DTH) services for television from its one degree west orbital location, reports The Norway Post.
“The launch of THOR 6 will further strengthen TSBc’s position in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) providing much needed expansion capacity to 1 degree west, which already services over 15 million TV households throughout the Nordics and CEE region,” said TSBc’s CEO and Vice President Cato Halsaa.
Thor 6 was sent skywards at exactly 17.00 on the 29th of October by the Ariane 5 rocket launcher and broadcasted live during the 31 minute mission.
Thor 6 will be based upon the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000B2 platform which will carry its 3,000kg weight. Thor 6 contains 36 Ku-band transponders, bringing to 71 the number of transponders on the at the 1 degree west location which have the ability to offer significant growth to TCBc.”It will also provide additional capacity in the Nordic region, where we continue to see a growth in HDTV requirements,” claimed Halsaa.
Thor 6 cost around NOK 1.3 billion and has an estimated life expectancy of 15 years.
THIS IS NOT TOTALLY TRUE, NORWAY IS NOT LAUNCHING THE SATELLITE AS NORWAY HAS NOT THE TECHNOLOGY TO FABRICATE AND LAUNCH SATELLITES. IT IS AN EUROPEAN UNION COMPANY. THE ARIANE WHO IS DOING ALL THE JOB. NORWAY HAS ONLY PAID FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND LAUNCHING OF THE SATELLITE.
YOU WOULD ALSO BE VERY AMAZED IF YOU KNEW THAT MOST OF THE PARTS OF THE SATELLITE HAS BEEN BUILD IN SPAIN, GERMANY AND FRANCE.
TO PUT AN EXAMPLE, THAT I PAY TO SEND A PACKAGE TO CHINA DOES NOT MEAN THAT I OWN THE POST COMPANY, NOR THAT I HAVE THE RESOURCES TO SEND IT.
For its sixth launch of the year, Arianespace will orbit two direct broadcast
TV satellites: NSS-12 for the operator SES World Skies, a subsidiary of SES,
and THOR 6 for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting AS, a subsidiary of the
Norwegian mobile operator, Telenor.
The choice of Arianespace by leading space communications operators and
manufacturers is clear international recognition of the company’s excellence in
launch services.
Ariane 5 is the only commercial satellite launcher now on the market capable of
simultaneously launching two payloads.
ARIANE IS A COMMERCIAL COMPANY BASED IN EU, USING EU SPACIAL INSTALLATIONS AND EU TECHNOLOGY.
THIS NEW HERE IS PRESENTED AS IF NORWAY ITSELF HAD THE TECHNOLOGY TO DO SUCH THINGS…
REMEMBER THAT IT IS EU THE ONE MAKING HUGE BUSINESS BY SELLING OUR TECHNOLOGY TO COUNTRIES THAT ARE UNDEVELOPED IN THAT WAY, NAME IT NORWAY, ETC…
IT IS AN EU CONSORTIUM MAKING THIS A REALITY…
Arianespace and SES have developed an exceptional relationship over the last two
decades. NSS-12 will be the 32nd satellite from the SES group of companies
(Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Bourse: SESG) to have opted for an Ariane launch.
THOR 6 was built by Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, for
operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting AS.
http://www.arianespace.com/index/index.asp
Arianespace’s 24 shareholders represent scientific, technical, financial and political entities from 10 different European countries. They include companies from the Ariane industrial team and national space agencies:
Spain
CRISA
0.10 %
Spain
EADS CASA
1.91 %
Spain
SENER GRUPO DE INGENIERIA SA
n.s.
France
ASTRIUM SAS
15.81 %
France
CLEMESSY SA
0.10 %
France
C.N.E.S.
32.53 %
France
COMPAGNIE DEUTSCH SAS
n.s.
France
EADS France SAS
n.s.
France
L’AIR LIQUIDE SA
1.77 %
France
SAFRAN
9.91%
Italy
THALES ALENIA SPACE ITALIA
1.49%
Italy
AVIO SPA
7.87%
Netherlands
DUTCH SPACE BV
1.82%
Sweden
SAAB SPACE AB
0.77%
Sweden
VOLVO AERO CORPORATION
1.53%
Switzerland
OERLIKON SPACE AG
2.41 %
Switzerland
RUAG AEROSPACE
To me it seems that there is only 6 of the 10 countries that have been listed by “EURO”. I would be nice if he cold give a short notice of which countries that have been left out.
Norway
KONGSBERG DEFENCE & AEROSPACE AS
0.10%
I DID NOT MENTION THIS 0.10 % OF THE INTEVENTION OF A NORWEGIAN COMPANY IN THIS PROJECT BECAUSE IT IS OBVIOUSLY INSIGNIFICANT.
HOWEVER THIS COMPANY+S PRODUCTION IS 90% WEAPON INDUSTRY. SOMETHING TO MAKE NOBEL PRICE OF PEACE NORWAY PROUD OF.
THE OTHER COUNTRY IS DENMARK. I HAVENT FOUND OTHER COUNTRIES.
AS I SAID, NORWEGIAN PARTICIPATION ( WHEN AND IF THEY DO) IN THIS KIND OF PROJECTS IS MUCH LESS THAN 1% IT IS JUST 1/10 OF 1%. WAY TOO INSIGNIFICANT…
I GUESS THAT NORWEGIAN PARTICIPATION WAS ABOUT SOME GUYS GOING THERE TO TAKE A LOOK AT HOW WE DO THINGS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION…
You still miss Belgium an Germany, but don´t care about that. I am in general more concerned about a persons attitude than a satelites altitude…