Telesat's (News - Alert) powerful Anik G1 satellite has recently begun orbiting and is currently positioned at 107.3 degrees West, providing a range of communications services including direct-to-home (DTH) video for Canada, X-band for government applications in the Americas and Pacific Ocean Region, and C-band and Ku-band services in South America.

Anik G1 was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral (SSL) and built on the highly reliable 1300 platform. Weighing 4.9 metric tons at liftoff, Anik G1 was the 26th SSL satellite, and 9th Telesat satellite, launched on an ILS Proton.

ILS President Phil Slack stated, "We thank Telesat for once again entrusting us with their satellite, their business and for their partnership over 14 years. We also want to express our gratitude for the work of all of the teams involved, including ILS, Khrunichev, Telesat, and SSL. Their efforts ensured a successful mission today."

The satellite has 24 C-band, 28 Ku-band and 3 X-band transponders that form a 55 transponder, multi-mission satellite. Once in service, Anik G1 will provide direct-to-home (DTH) television service in Canada, as well as broadband, voice, data, and video services in South America where economic growth has driven high demand for satellite capacity.

It will also be the first commercial satellite with substantial X-band coverage for government communications over the Americas and the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii. In addition, Anik G1 has 16 extended Ku-band transponders fully contracted to Shaw Direct for 15 years.

"Anik G1 will add meaningful incremental capacity to Telesat's fleet that will contribute to our anticipated growth in 2013 and beyond," said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat. "We are pleased that a significant portion of Anik G1's capacity is pre-sold for 15 years to blue chip customers like Shaw Direct and Astrium Services. We look forward to delivering to them the outstanding quality and reliability they have come to expect from Telesat and to expanding the C-band and Ku-band services we provide to the rapidly growing South American market."