The Intelsat 903 satellite was successfully launched aboard an ILS Proton K/Block DM launch vehicle last Saturday 12:25 EST.

According to an official release, the satellite is expected to be operational during the second quarter of 2002. The Intelsat 903 launch is the fourth in an aggressive campaign that is expected to increase total customer capacity by up to 34 per cent by the end of the next year. The 903 satellite will be deployed at 325.5?E and will offer capacity for Internet, video, telephony and corporate network solutions to customers on its 72 C-band and 22 Ku-band transponders (measured in 36 MHz equivalent units).

The satellite will provide high power Ku-band spot beam coverage for Western Europe and much of North America and additional C-band capacity to customers in Europe, the Middle East, North America, Africa and South America, the release states.

Intelsat 601 currently holds the 325.5?E orbital slot but will be moved to occupy one of Intelsat‘s new roles at 178?E. The next launch of an Intelsat IX series satellite is scheduled to take place from French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 44L launch vehicle, during the second quarter of this year.

The 61st annual Peabody Awards announced recently saw HBO and Nickelodeon reap a rich harvest of awards.
The awards will be given away on 20 May by the University of Georgia‘s Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

HBO has received multiple awards for original programmes like Band of Brothers, the 10-part World War II miniseries created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and Wit, with Emma Thompson as an English teacher dying of cancer. HBO films Conspiracy and Boycott have also bagged awards.

Nickelodeon has scored with its shows Little Bill and Blue‘s Clues, the latter an animated series for pre-schoolers. CNN and Channel 4 International received an award for two documentaries, Beneath the Veil and Unholy War, produced by Saira Shah. These works chronicle the terror and violence in the lives of Afghan women. America: A Tribute to Heroes, which aired on Star World shortly after 11 September has also bagged a Peabody. The show was produced by Joel Gallen and simulcast by more than thirty broadcast and cable networks.

A Peabody has also gone to the ABC movie Anne Frank. The films stars Ben Kinglsey and goes beyond previous accounts of the familiar tragic story. The Showtime network was cited for Things Behind the Sun, a harrowing depiction of rape and its lingering personal effects.

Peabody winners include several international productions. WTO Challenge, produced by Television Broadcast Limited in Hong Kong examines the personal, social and economic implications of China‘s growing involvement in world affairs.

Awards were also presented to National Public Radio for its more than 180 hours of programming related to September 11.