Telenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc) today announced that its spacecraft, Thor 6, has arrived safely at the Guiana Spaceport in Kourou. Thor 6 will now go through its final preparations prior to its scheduled launch at the end of October.
Thor 6 will replace the current Thor III satellite, which is set to retire in 2010, as well as provide additional capacity for expansion. The spacecraft is to be launched from the Guiana Spaceport onboard the Ariane 5 ECA launcher with its co-passenger NSS12 from SES World Skies, which has also arrived at the launch site.
“The launch of Thor 6 will further strengthen TSBc’s position in Central and Eastern Europe providing much needed expansion capacity to 1 degree west , which already services over 15 million TV households throughout the Nordics and CEE region” said Cato Halsaa, VP and CEO of Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, in a statement.” It will also provide additional capacity in the Nordic region, where we continue to see a growth in HDTV requirements”.
Telenor Satellite Broadcasting’s mission team will be stationed at Kourou to supervise the final preparations of Thor 6 as it commences an intensive 30 day mission campaign prior to launch.
