FSS operator Intelsat has contracted Boeing to build the first of its EpicNG next-generation system satellites based on the manufacturer’s 702 medium-power (702MP) bus.
   Boeing will build the Intelsat 29e satellite in time for a launch in 2015. The contract completes Intelsat’s four-satellite order with Boeing, following the procurement and launch of Intelsat 22 and Intelsat 21 and the procurement of Intelsat 27, which is set for launch in the first quarter of 2013.
   “The Intelsat 29e satellite is designed to raise the industry bar for performance and reliability and offer customers unparalleled flexibility and control,” Boeing Satellite Systems International CEO Craig Cooning said in a statement. “Intelsat’s choice of the 702MP for the first Intelsat EpicNG satellite reflects our commitment to meeting the advanced requirements of next-generation technologies.”
   Once in orbit, Intelsat 29e aims to offer high-performance communications coverage spanning North and South America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic aeronautical route connecting North America and Europe. The spacecraft kicks off Intelsat’s EpicNG constellation, which the operator designed to provide wireless and fixed telecommunications, enterprise, mobility, video and government applications that require broadband infrastructure.
   Intelsat Senior Vice President and CTO Thierry Guillemin said his company chose the Boeing 702MP platform to fit the EpicNG platform’s ability to utilize multiple frequency bands, wide beams and spot beams with a high degree of flexibility and connectivity. “We selected Boeing because they were able to meet this challenge,” Guillemin said in a statement. “Our customers require an advanced architecture specially designed to meet their fixed and mobile communications needs. With higher throughput, strong economics and a degree of control that meets our customers’ business requirements, Intelsat EpicNG caters to this environment. Its architecture combines multi-band frequency reuse with the benefits of backward and forward compatibility, resulting in a high-performance solution not previously available in the commercial satellite sector.”