The Nimiq satellites are four Canadian geostationary telecommunications satellites owned by Telesat and used by satellite television provider Bell ExpressVu. 'Nimiq' is an Inuit 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.
Nimiq 1 was launched on November 21 1999 by a Proton K Blok DM-3 rocket from Baikonur CosmodromeinKazakhstan. 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. Nimiq 1 Channels
Nimiq 2, launched on December 29, 2002 on a Proton Breeze M rocket, includes 2 K-band transponders. Nimiq 2 provides additional bandwidth for HDTV and interactive television applications. On February 20, 2003, Nimiq 2 experienced a partial power failure and as such can only power 26 of its 32 Ku-band transponders.
Nimiq 3 and Nimiq 4i were leased by Bell ExpressVu from DirecTV Inc. when they were already in orbit. Originally called DirectTV3 and DirectTV2 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 ExpressVu's stead in 2004 and 2006.
Nimiq 4i ran out of fuel and was replacedbyNimiq 4iR on April 28, 2007.
Nimiq 4 is scheduled to be launched in early 2008 by a Proton Breeze M rocket from Baikonur CosmodromeinKazakhstan. It will replace Nimiq 4i, and will provide advanced services such as high-definition television, specialty channels and foreign language programming.
Telesat has recently announced plans to build and launch its 19th satellite, Nimiq 5. It has selected International Launch Services (ILS) for the launch of the Nimiq 5 satellite in 2009. [1]