Asian satellite and space tech company Thaicom has announced the signing of a partnership agreement between Space Tech Innovation Limited (STI), a subsidiary of Thaicom, and Eutelsat Asia, a subsidiary of satellite operator Eutelsat.
This partnership relates to a new satellite to be launched at the orbital slot of 119.5 degrees East. Under the agreement, Eutelsat is committed to lease and operate the service for 50% of the satellite capacity during its lifetime of 16 years. Thaicom is currently finalising the procurement process of the satellite. The actual launch date does not appear to have been announced yet.
Thaicom says its satellite is part of a new generation of broadband software-defined high throughput satellites (HTS). This means, the company says, that it will allow flexibility and instant reconfiguration to adapt dynamically to the service areas and will thus provide a significant confidence boost for the company’s customers and partners throughout Asia-Pacific.
Patompob (Nile) Suwansiri, Thaicom's Chief Executive Officer, says: “This partnership is strategic for our new satellite project at the orbital slot of 119.5 degrees East as it not only provides a long-term and secure utilization of 50% of our new satellite, but more importantly, it will create synergies between the two organisations to capture new growth opportunities in the future.”