[Satellite Today – 5-19-08] Integral Systems Inc. completed the initial phase of activities to integrate the Loral Skynet and Telesat Canada satellite fleet operations under Telesat, Integral announced May 19.
The operations for the Loral Skynet satellite fleet, consisting of three Telstar satellites owned by Loral Skynet and six third-party satellites, have been transferred to Telesat’s Ottawa facility. The combined Telesat satellite fleet operated from Ottawa now consists of 25 satellites — 11 operated for Telesat and 14 operated for other parties.
“At the beginning of this project we had an aggressive goal to complete the integration of the nine Loral Skynet satellites within nine months of the closure of the Telesat sale,” David Wendling, vice president, space systems department at Telesat, said in a statement. “Despite the fact that the Telesat transaction closed four months later than anticipated, we were able to transition the operations of the Skynet fleet to Ottawa in late March as originally scheduled.”