Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) launched its Amos 2 satellite into space from Kazakhstan Saturday, December 27, 2003, atop a Russian Soyuz rocket. The $130 million satellite will provide services to Israel and the Middle East, Europe, and the East Coast of the United States.
French-Russian joint venture Starsem carried out the launch of the second-generation communications satellite. Weighing 1.4 tons, the satellite’s journey into orbit will last two days.
Users of Amos 2 services will include the Israeli government, a local satellite television company and the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Overseas clients include Germany's RTL network, and America's HBO.
AMOS 2 communications satellite will provide wide range of broadcast and communication services including direct to home (DTH) television distribution, TV distribution to cable companies, distribution of internet services and data transmission to communication networks.
The Amos 1 was launched in 1996 and is expected to end its life cycle in 2008. Amos 2 transmissions will rely on signal reception stations installed for Amos 1. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
