Nimiq 5 satellite is operated by Telesat Canada as part of its Nimiq fleet of satellites. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 72.7° West. As of July 2015, satellite operator EchoStar Corp. form USA leases the satellite’s entire capacity to provide HD television DTH broadcasting for Dish Network Corp. branding as EchoStar 72W.

Nimiq 5 was built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus. The contract to build it was announced on January, 4^th, 2007. The satellite had a launch mass of 4,745kgs and is expected to operate for 15 years. It carries 32 J-band transponders (NATO frequency designation system, US IEEE Ku-band).

Nimiq-5 was successfully launched on September 17^th, 2009, on a Proton M rocket booster, operated by launch operator ILS, from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazachstan.