The Thuraya mobile communications system serves a region of 2.3 billion people. Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) built the complete turnkey system under a contract signed on Sept. 11, 1997. This included the manufacture and October 2000 launch of Thuraya-1, a high-power Boeing GEM satellite, plus a second spacecraft, ground facilities and user handsets. The system began commercial operations in mid-2001. Sea Launch successfully orbited Thuraya-2 on June 10, 2003, and Thuraya-3 on January 15, 2008.