Space Systems/Loral wins Aussie satellite contract

California-based Space Systems/Loral has won a 620 million Australian dollar ($670 million) contract to build two satellites to service remote portions of Australia's national broadband network, which will be among the world's fastest.

The government said in a statement Wednesday that the subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications Inc. based in Palo Alto, Calif., will deliver the two Ka-band satellites for launch in 2015.

They will provide broadband access to remote locations that will not be reached by a fiber optic network being rolled out across Australia. The government has a AU$36 billion plan to deliver broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second to 90 percent of Australian homes, schools and businesses.

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