Arianespace received a contract from Asian direct-to-home (DTH) operator ProtoStar to place the ProtoStar 1 satellite into orbit in the first half of 2008, Arianespace announced Jan. 8.

The satellite, being refurbished by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), will be equipped with 22 Ku-band and 38 C-band transponders to provide digital DTH services, high-definition TV and broadband Internet to underserved areas in Asia.

ProtoStar acquired the satellite from China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp. and China National Postal and Telecommunications Appliances Corp.

Arianespace also announced that it has six Ariane 5 launches planned for 2007, with affiliate Starsem scheduled to perform three Soyuz missions.