Lockheed Martin-built JCSAT-9 for Japan's JSAT Corp. to launch

NEWTOWN, Penn., 11 April 2006. The JCSAT-9 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for JSAT Corporation of Japan, is ready for launch April 12 aboard a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL launch vehicle. JCSAT-9 is the second in a series of seven satellite launches planned this year for Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS), and the first of three satellites Lockheed Martin will deliver to JSAT over the next two years.

JCSAT-9 is a hybrid satellite that features 20 Ku-band channels and 20 C-band channels. JCSAT-9 is also equipped with a mobile service communications subsystem. Based on Lockheed Martin's high-power A2100AX platform, JCSAT-9 will operate from 132 degrees east and is designed for a minimum service life of 12 years.

The Lockheed Martin A2100 spacecraft series is designed to meet a variety of commercial and government telecommunications needs, ranging from Ka-band/broadband services and fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band payload configurations, to high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum and S-band mobile satellite services.