* Astronomy

Intelsat, Ltd. announced today that its IS-802 satellite, located at 33° E, experienced a sudden and unexpected anomaly on September 22, 2006, at approximately 00:27 GMT Friday, (8:27 p.m. E.T.)

The Intelsat satellite control centre is communicating with the satellite and the satellite is under control and accepting commands. Intelsat is in the process of making alternative capacity available to its IS-802 customers, in accordance with existing contingency plans.
The satellite, launched in 1997, furnishes telecommunications services to customers on the African continent and in the Indian Ocean Region. Intelsat and Lockheed Martin Corporation, the manufacturer of the satellite, are working together to identify the cause of the problem. Intelsat currently does not know if there is a connection between this event and the Intelsat 804 satellite failure which occurred in January 2005 and was also manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Intelsat, which operates the world's largest fleet of commercial satellites, operates a number of satellites in the region which are being utilized to restore service to affected customers. The majority of IS-802 users are being issued replacement capacity which will be available for their use today.

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