[Satellite TODAY 12-09-11] GlobeCast has expanded its available satellite capacity resources over Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by launching a new Ku-band platform on the Yamal-201 satellite, the company announced Dec. 8.

   Located at the 90 degrees East orbital slot, Yamal-201 will offer free-to-air or encrypted channels uplinked from Moscow, providing wide coverage from Eastern Europe to east of Japan, and from North China up to Siberia. Since its launch in 2003, the satellite boasts a 90 percent penetration rate for regional cable operators and a potential reach of more than 16 million cable homes.