MSAT

On April 20, 1996, the Canadian firm TMI Communications launched MSat (The North American Mobile Satellite System), a powerful new communications satellite. MSat is the first dedicated system in North America for mobile telephone, radio, facsimile, paging, position location, and data communications for users on land, at sea and in the air.

Canada-based TMI Communications & Company Ltd. of Ottawa, Ontario and American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC) in Reston, Va., signed contracts with Hughes and Spar Aerospace Ltd. of Canada in 1990 to build their respective satellites for the initial systems. TMI and AMSC each own and operate identical spacecraft. Both provide complementary mobile services and each provide backup and restoration capacity for the other. MSAT-1 operates at 106.5 degrees West longitude. AMSC-1 is at 101 degrees West.