Artist’s rendition of Horizon’s 2. Photo: Orbital ATK

[Via Satellite 11-20-2015] Intelsat announced Nov. 19 it has moved the Horizons 2 satellite to a new orbital position at 85 degrees east to launch a new Free-to-Air (FTA) Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform in Thailand. The satellite will support Next Step, a content provider turned platform operator, with launching its new Freeview HD platform, which is positioned to serve an addressable market of approximately 67 million people.

Next Step has a multiyear agreement to use Ku-band capacity on Horizons 2. Intelsat expects the DTH market in Thailand to grow by more than 2.5 million new subscribers in the next 10 years. The company launched Horizons 2 in 2007 in partnership with Sky Perfect JSAT for coverage over the United States, and previously relocated the satellite to cover Russia in 2012.