Telesat launches Anik F3 satellite

Telesat has successfully launched the latest generation of its communication satellites, the Anik F3, the Canadian company says.

"It was a picture-perfect launch. Everything in the mission has gone according to plan," Telesat vice-president Ted Ignacy told CBC News Online on Wednesday.

The 4,634-kilogram broadcasting and telecommunications satellite was launched into orbit at 7:54 p.m. ET Monday (4:54 a.m. local time on Tuesday) from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Russian Proton Breeze M rocket owned by International Launch Services.

The satellite built by EADS Astrium — a division of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, or EADS NV — is to add to telecommunications service in North America and to supplement the functions of the Anik F2 satellite.

The new satellite is expected to provide service for direct-to-home television in the United States, broadband internet services, and telecommunications for Bell Canada and other BCE Inc.-related companies, Ignacy said. Telesat is a division of BCE.

The Anik F3 will also broadcast television signals to northern Canada and remote areas of the country, Ignacy said.

Telesat will officially take possession of the Anik F3 after the satellite has been manoeuvred into its final orbit and a series of in-orbit tests are complete.

"We would hope to put this into service early in May," Ignacy said.

The Anik F3 offers service on the C, Ka and Ku frequency bands. It has 32 Ku-band transponders, 24 C-band transponders, and several in the Ka-band, sports a solar array that spans 36 metres, and is expected to be in service for about 15 years.