ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 6,
2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) and
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced today that the EchoStar III
satellite has been successfully recovered following an anomaly that
occurred in late July and retired per the FCC regulations.
"After the initial loss of contact, with a joint effort by
EchoStar and Lockheed Martin, a command and control link was
reestablished and deorbit maneuvers performed," said Derek de Bastos, chief technology officer for
EchoStar Satellite Services L.L.C. "EchoStar III is now safely in a
graveyard orbit more than 350 kilometers above the geostationary
arc with its fuel and pressurants depleted, batteries drained, and
systems shut down."
EchoStar III, a Ku-band BSS satellite that provided coverage
over the U.S., was a fully depreciated, non-revenue generating
asset owned by EchoStar. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin and
launched in 1997, EchoStar III exceeded its 15 year design
life.
"Because of the robustness of the A2100 satellite design, our
teams were able to command all the necessary recovery actions,"
said Barry Noakes, commercial
satellite chief engineer at Lockheed Martin.
About EchoStar Satellite Services
EchoStar Satellite
Services L.L.C., a subsidiary of EchoStar Corp., is a world-class
satellite operator with a fleet of 25 owned, leased and managed
satellites. EchoStar Satellite Services delivers reliable and
innovative solutions to the satellite industry, providing satellite
communications infrastructure and services to media and broadcast
organizations, pay-TV operators, enterprise customers and U.S.
Government and military service providers. For more information,
visit echostarsatelliteservices.com.
About EchoStar
EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) is
a premier global provider of satellite communication solutions.
Headquartered in Englewood, Colo.,
and conducting business around the globe, EchoStar is a pioneer in
secure communications technologies through its Hughes Network
Systems and EchoStar Satellite Services business segments.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research,
design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of
advanced technology systems, products and services.
For more information, visit echostar.com. Follow @EchoStar on
Twitter.
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SOURCE EchoStar Corporation