The Nimiq satellites are a Canadian fleet of

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude ...

telecommunications satellites owned by Telesat and used by satellite television providers including Bell Satellite TV and

EchoStar EchoStar Corporation is an American company, a worldwide provider of satellite communication and Internet services through its Hughes Network Systems and EchoStar Satellite Services business segments. EchoStar is based out of unincorporated Arapa ...

(

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

). 'Nimiq' is an

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

word used for an object or a force which binds things together. A contest in 1998 was held to choose the name of these satellites. The contest drew over 36,000 entries. Sheila Rogers, a physiotherapist from Nepean, Ontario, submitted the winning name. Nimiq Winner

Nimiq-1

Nimiq-1 was launched on 21 May 1999 by a Proton-K / Blok DM-03 launch vehicle from

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. It was Canada's first direct broadcast digital TV satellite and was paid for by Telesat, a Canadian communications company and subsidiary of Bell Canada Enterprises. * Manufacturer:

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

* Satellite Type:

, A2100AX * Weight: * Dimensions: 5.8 x 2.4 x 2.4 m and a 27 m² solar array * DC power: 120 W * Expected lifetime: 12 years * Transponders: 32 * Vehicle: Proton-K / Blok DM-03

Nimiq-2

Nimiq 2, launched on 29 December 2002 on a

Proton Breeze M Proton (Russian: Протон) (formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are stil ...

launch vehicle, includes 32 Ku-band transponders. Nimiq 2 provides additional bandwidth for

High-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

(HDTV) and interactive television applications. On 20 February 2003, Nimiq-2 experienced a partial power failure and as such can only power 26 of its 32 Ku-band transponders. Nimiq 2's orbital slot, 123° West longitude, was changed to 91.61° East longitude during June 2019.

Nimiq-3, -4i and -4iR

Nimiq-3 and Nimiq-4i were leased by Bell Satellite TV from DirecTV Inc. when they were already in orbit. Originally called '' Direct-TV3'' and ''Direct-TV2'' respectively, these Hughes HS-601 models were brought out of retirement and are currently used to share some of the workload from ''Nimiq-2'' and ''Nimiq-1'', respectively. They went online in Bell TV's stead in 2004 and 2006. Nimiq-4i ran out of fuel and was replaced by Nimiq-4iR on 28 April 2007.

Nimiq-4

Nimiq-4 was launched on 19 September 2008, by a Proton-M / Briz M rocket from

in Kazakhstan. It will replace Nimiq-4i, and will provide advanced services such as

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

specialty channels A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...

and foreign language programming. * Manufacturer: EADS Astrium * Satellite type: Astrium Eurostar E3000S * Weight: * Dimensions: 39 metres solar array span * Power: 12 kW at end of life * Expected lifetime: 15 years * Transponders: 32 Ku-band, and 8 in Ka-band * Vehicle: Proton-M / Briz-M * Location: 82.0 West

Nimiq-5

In 2009, Telesat announced plans to build and launch its 19th satellite, Nimiq-5. It selected International Launch Services (ILS) for the launch of the Nimiq-5 satellite in 2009.

Space Systems/Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

has been selected as the manufacturer for Nimiq-5.

is expected to lease all of the 32 Ku-band transponder payload. The satellite will be located at 72.7° West longitude. The satellite's manufacturing plan also includes contracts with the Canadian satellite industry, including multiplexers and switches from Com Dev International Ltd. and antennas from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Ltd (MDA Ltd). The Nimiq-5 satellite was shipped from the manufacturer,

Space Systems Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

located in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

, to the

in Kazakhstan, on 18 August 2009. Telesat Canada contracted with International Launch Services (ILS) in April 2007 for the launch of Nimiq-5 by an ILS Proton-M / Briz-M

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

. Nimiq-5 was successfully launched into space aboard a Proton M / Breeze M rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 19:19:19 UTC on 17 September 2009.

Nimiq-6

Satellite has been be fully leased for its lifetime by Bell Satellite TV which will use it to service direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television subscribers across Canada. Nimiq-6 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 17 May 2012. * Manufacturer:

* Satellite Type:

LS-1300 The SSL 1300, previously the LS-1300 and the FS-1300, is a satellite bus produced by Maxar Technologies. Total broadcast power ranges from 5 to 25 kW, and the platform can accommodate from 12 to 150 transponders. The SSL 1300 is a modular platf ...

* Launch mass: * Dimensions: * Power: 25 kW * Expected lifetime: 15 years * Transponders: 32 Ku-band * Vehicle: Proton-M / Briz-M * Location: 91.1° West

References

{{Canadian Space Agency Communications satellites of Canada Lockheed Martin satellites and probes Telesat