May 13, 2003: The launch of Hellas-Sat 2 aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket put Cyprus’s first satellite into GEO orbit. It was owned by the Hellas Sat Consortium, a Greece-Cyprus venture majority-owned by the Greek national carrier OTE. An Astrium Eurostar-2000 satellite weighing 3.6 tons (3250kg) and carrying 30 Ku-band transponders suitable for direct-to-home television, Hellas-Sat went through multiple owners before reaching space. It was ordered by Intelsat, transferred prior to delivery to New Skies Satellites in 1988, then sold back to Intelsat in 2001. Unable to obtain an export license from the US government for launch on a Chinese Long March rocket, Intelsat cancelled the acquisition and, in 2002, the satellite was sold to the Hellas Sat Consortium

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