NSS-7 is The Netherlands’ first communications satellite


The Hague, The Netherlands, March 20, 2002 – New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX, NYSE: NSK), the global satellite communications company, announced today that its NSS-7 Atlantic Ocean region satellite has arrived in Kourou, French Guiana to begin the final preparations for launch from Arianespace’s Guiana Space Center. NSS-7, New Skies’ first new satellite since the company began operations in 1998, is scheduled to lift off aboard an Ariane 44L rocket on April 16.

NSS-7 was delivered from Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems’ manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California to Kourou by an Antonov An-124 Ruslan, one of the largest cargo transports in the world.

NSS-7 has been designed to replace the NSS-803 and NSS-K satellites at 338.5 degrees East longitude, combining the existing television services on NSS-K with the substantial Internet and video traffic on NSS-803. From this orbital location, NSS-7 will offer existing and potential customers more Ku-band capacity, expanded coverage and increased transmission power. NSS-7 also will enable New Skies to transition NSS-803 to 183 degrees East over the Pacific Ocean to replace the ageing NSS-513 spacecraft.

“NSS-7 is the first satellite to have been designed exclusively by New Skies to match our customers’ present and future business plans, while being extremely competitive with existing capacity in the region,” said Steve Stott, New Skies’ chief technology officer. “In addition, with NSS-803 over the Pacific Ocean, we will have upgraded our capacity and capabilities in two distinct regions with one launch.”

New Skies will use NSS-7 to deliver a wide range of communications services throughout Europe, Africa and the Americas. These offerings include video distribution and contribution, Internet backbone connectivity, corporate business networking and fixed services such as telephony and data.

The NSS-7 design is based on Lockheed Martin’s A2100AX platform and boasts a communications payload consisting of nearly 3,500 MHz of capacity. The bandwidth is spread over 36 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders in 11 high-powered coverage beams, which are focused on key developed and emerging markets. The extensive switching capability between beams and between frequency bands offers enhanced connectivity between regions and makes it possible to tailor capacity to match current Internet and video traffic patterns in the Atlantic Ocean Region. NSS-7’s high downlink power levels also will enable the use of smaller, more efficient receive systems for the delivery of Internet and data services.

New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK) is one of only four fixed satellite communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations and Internet service providers around the world. New Skies has five satellites in geosynchronous orbit and ground facilities around the world. The company also has three new spacecraft under construction, which are planned to serve the Atlantic Ocean Region, Asia and the Americas. In line with its growth strategy, the company has secured certain rights to make use of four additional orbital positions. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has offices in London, Johannesburg, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C. Additional information is available at www.newskies.com.

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Additional information is available at http://www.newskies.com, or please contact:
Jeffrey Bothwell, New Skies Satellites
Tel: +31 70 306 4239 Email: jbothwell@newskies.com