Optus, an Australian operator owned by SingTel, is planning to invest in a third D-series satellite, which will increase the operator’s fleet capacity by more than 30 percent, Optus announced March 29.

Optus-D3 will provide TV broadcast services including Foxtel direct-to-home and high-definition TV.

Being built by Orbital Sciences for delivery in 2009, the satellite will increase Optus’ overall investment in the program to more than $600 million Australian ($484 million). Orbital Sciences also manufactured the Optus-D1 and Optus-D2 satellites.