1990 headquarters palo alto california parent macdonald dettwiler and associates website www.sslmda.com ssl formerly space systems loral llc ss l of palo alto california is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of macdonald dettwiler and associates mda . ssl designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial customers . its products include high powered direct to home broadcast satellites commercial weather satellites digital audio radio satellites earth observation satellites and spot beam satellites for data networking applications . contents 1 history 2 projects 2.1 1300 series platform 2.1.1 cots proposal 2.1.2 ladee mission 3 customers 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the company was founded as the western development laboratories wdl of philco philco ford since 1966 . the space systems division of aeronutronic ford aerospace was acquired in by loral corp. in 1990 for 715 million from ford motor company and renamed space systems loral . in 2012 space systems loral was acquired by the canadian aerospace company macdonald dettwiler mda for 875 million . ssl s major competitors are boeing satellite systems lockheed martin thales alenia space airbus defence and space and jsc information satellite systems citation needed . projects edit in 1960 the courier 1b built by then philco became the world s first active repeater satellite . ssl has recently pioneered research in electric propulsion systems lithium ion power systems and the use of advanced composites on commercial satellites which permit significant increases in the size and power of a satellite s payload and extends the satellite s on orbit lifetime . ssl also has developed new service enhancing technologies such as super power systems for direct to user applications and ground based beam forming a technology that uses both satellite and terrestrial assets to provide mobile users with increased coverage and capacity capabilities . as of september 2015 update there are 80 ssl built geo satellites currently on orbit . 1 1300 series platform edit main article ssl 1300 artist impression of optus c1 built on the ls 1300 platform ssl manufactures satellites based on its ssl 1300 series platform previously ls 1300 fs 1300 in palo alto . satellites in the series include protostar i ico g1 sirius fm 6 and ses new skies nss 12 . as of september 2015 update there were 80 satellites based on the 1300 series platform on orbit with 1 more ready for launch and 21 others under construction . 2 the company designed and built asiasat 8 which was launched on 5 august 2014 and asiasat 6 which went into orbit on 7 september 2014 . the two satellite launches cost asiasat 110 million . the satellites were expected to last 15 years and contain high powered c band transponders providing video and broadband services to the asia pacific region . 3 4 cots proposal edit ssl and constellation services international have proposed a reusable space tug based on the 1300 platform and a pressure fed low cost aquarius launch vehicle . the tug would be used to bring supplies to the international space station as part of the commercial orbital transportation services cots program . 2 5 6 nasa eventually decided to pursue another proposal for this project . ssl however continues to provide battery orbital replacement units orus battery charge discharge units bcdus and sequential shunt units ssus for the iss . 7 ladee mission edit ssl designed and delivered a propulsion system based on their 1300 platform for the nasa ladee mission . on april 17 2014 between 9 30 p.m and 10 22 p.m. pdt after successfully completing its goal to collect lunar dust and study the moon s atmosphere nasa s lunar atmosphere and dust environment explorer ladee spacecraft successfully completed a planned de orbit bringing an end to the mission to study the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere . 8 9 using a private company to provide the propulsion system leverages the capability of commercially proven technology for u.s. government missions . 10 11 12 customers edit ssl s customers include asiasat azercosmos bank rakyat indonesia persero tbk . bri broadcasting satellite system corporation bulgaria sat bulsatcom directv echostar eutelsat globalstar google s skybox imaging hispasat hughes network systems ico global communications intelsat japan mtsat jsc gascom loral skynet nasa noaa goes nbn optus panamsat pasifik satelit nusantara psn quetzsat satmex ses s.a. ses world skies shin satellite singtel sirius satellite radio sky perfect jsat corporation spainsat star one telenor telesat canada thaicom viasat wildblue and xm satellite radio . see also edit aerospace manufacturer list of spacecraft manufacturers technology companies based in the san francisco bay area references edit this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message ssl built satellite for directv begins post launch maneuvers according to plan press release . retrieved 2015 03 18 . a b ssl built satellite for intelsat begins post launch maneuvers according to plan . 2015 . asiasat sends two satellites into space aboard falcon 9 rocket . florida statesman . 7 september 2014 . retrieved 8 september 2014 . asiasat selects space systems loral to provide two communications satellites press release . retrieved 2015 03 18 . space systems loral proposes bus for nasa s cargo needs press release . space news . 2007 12 10 . retrieved 2007 12 10 . constellation services international and space systems loral team on nasa cots proposal using a u.s. version of csi s leo expresssm cargo system pdf press release . constellation services international inc. 2007 12 11 . retrieved 2007 12 11 . international space station . nasa s ladee mission . 2014 . nasa completes ladee mission with planned impact on moon s surface . 2014 . space systems loral provides on time delivery of nasa propulsion system press release . retrieved 2015 03 31 . ssl highlights ladee mission milestones and lasercomm progress supports nasa initiative to partner with industry press release . retrieved 2015 03 31 . ladee project manager update press release . retrieved 2015 03 31 . external links edit ssl company website ssl at answers.com retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ssl company & oldid 736694252 categories aerospace companies of the united statesspacecraft manufacturersmanufacturing companies based in californiatechnology companies based in the san francisco bay areacompanies based in palo alto californiamanufacturing companies established in 1990technology companies established in 19901990 establishments in californialoral space & communicationshidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from october 2013articles containing potentially dated statements from september 2015all articles containing potentially dated statementsarticles needing additional references from january 2008all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran aisbahasa indonesia portugu s suomi edit links this page was last modified on 29 august 2016 at 06 48 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you 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