Nimiq

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The Nimiq satellites are Canadian geostationary telecommunications satellites and are used by satellite television provider Bell ExpressVu . The satellite is operated by the Canadian company Telesat Canada . Nimiq is a word from the Inuit language and stands for a thing or a force that binds things together. The name was determined from over 36,000 entries in a competition in 1998.

Nimiq 1 and 2

Nimiq 1 was launched on May 20, 1999 with a Proton-K / Block DM-3 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan . It was the first Canadian satellite for direct digital television broadcasting. He was paid for by Telesat , a subsidiary of Bell Canada Enterprises. The satellite is now used by Arabsat at 44.5 ° East, but no regular programs are broadcast.

Nimiq 2 was launched on December 30, 2002 and carries 2 K-band transponders. Nimiq 2 offers more bandwidth for HDTV and interactive TV applications. On February 20, 2003 there was a partial power failure on board Nimiq 2, so only 26 of its 32 Ku-band transponders can be supplied with sufficient energy.

Technical specifications

  • Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
  • Model : Lockheed Martin A2100AX
  • Weight: 3600 kg
  • Dimensions: 5.8 × 2.4 × 2.4 m and 27 m² solar panel
  • DC power supply: 120 W
  • Target lifespan: 12 years
  • Transponder: 32

Nimiq 3 and 4i

The Nimiq 3 and Nimiq 4i were rented by DirecTV from Bell ExpressVu when they were already in orbit. These two Hughes HS-601 models, originally called DirectTV3 and DirectTV2, were reactivated in orbit to reduce the workload of the Nimiq 2 and Nimiq 1. They started their service in 2004 and 2006.

Technical specifications

  • Manufacturer: Hughes
  • Model: HS-601
  • Weight: 2860 kg
  • Target lifespan: 12 years
  • Transponder: 16

Nimiq 4

Nimiq 4 was launched on September 19, 2008 on board a Proton / Bris-M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and supplies the American continent, especially Canada, from position 82 ° W.

Technical specifications

  • Manufacturer: Astrium
  • Model: Astrium E3000
  • Weight: 4850 kg
  • Dimensions: 39 m² solar panel
  • Energy supply: 12 kW at the end of the service life
  • Target lifespan: 15 years
  • Transponder: 32 Ku, 8 Ka

Nimiq 5

The Nimiq 5 satellite was manufactured by Space Systems / Loral . It was launched on September 17, 2009, 19:19 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a Proton M / Bris M, from which the satellite separated after nine hours and 15 minutes. It was stationed at a position of 72.7 degrees west and is intended to provide satellite television programs to North America. The capacity will be used by both Bell TV and Dish Network . The satellite weighs around 4745 kg in orbit, is based on the SS / L-1300 satellite bus, carries 32 Ku-band transponders and has a planned service life of more than 15 years.

Nimiq 6

Nimiq 6 was commissioned in December 2009 and launched on May 17, 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nimiq 4. Telesat, accessed on 10 August 2013 (English).
  2. ↑ Gunter Krebs: Nimiq 5. In: Gunter's Space Page. March 22, 2013, accessed August 10, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Nimiq 5 (SSL) ( Memento from December 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Daniel Maurat: Nimiq-6 successfully launched. raumfahrer.net, May 17, 2012, accessed on May 17, 2012 .

Web links