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Satnews Daily
December 5th, 2019

Thales Alenia Space to Build Nilesat's New Satellite


Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo , has signed a contract with the Egyptian operator Nilesat to build the Nilesat-301 geostationary communications satellite.

Positioned at 7 degrees West, Nilesat-301 will work with Nilesat-201 to provide Ku-band services for the Middle East and North Africa. Nilesat-301 will also help extend the company’s provision of Ku-band communications and direct digital broadcasting services in two new large regions of Africa, while also providing broadband Ka-band connectivity over all of Egypt.


Artistic rendition of the Nilesat-301 satellite. Image is courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.

As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space will be responsible for satellite design, production, testing and on-orbit acceptance tests. Thales Alenia Space will also provide satellite control system for Nilesat in both Cairo and Alexandria.

The satellite is based on the Spacebus 4000-B2 platform and will weigh about 4 metric tons at launch, which is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. It offers a design life exceeding 15 years. Following Nilesat-201, Nilesat-301 is the second geostationary communications satellite built by Thales Alenia Space for Nilesat. It is also the fourth payload developed by Thales Alenia Space for the Egyptian operator.