PanAmSat Launches Satellite to Expand Largest US Cable Television Fleet Providing HDTV, IPTV and VOD Services
August 13 2005 - 10:36PM
PR Newswire (US)
Latest Launch is Second PanAmSat Spacecraft to Back-up US Fleet
Delivering Highest Reliability in Satellite Industry WILTON, Conn.,
Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PanAmSat (NYSE:PA) announced
today that its new Galaxy 14 satellite successfully soared into
space at 9:08 p.m. ET. Launched into orbit by a Soyuz-Fregat
rocket, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Galaxy 14 is
the 24th satellite in PanAmSat's fleet. The satellite, to be
co-located with Galaxy 12 at 125 degrees west longitude, will
enable PanAmSat to have two in-orbit spares for its U.S. fleet,
allowing the Company to continue to provide the highest fleet
redundancy and reliability in the FSS industry. Although designated
a back-up satellite, the powerful all C-band spacecraft is designed
to deliver digital video programming, high-definition television
(HDTV), VOD and IPTV service throughout the continental U.S.
"Today's successful launch of Galaxy 14 expands PanAmSat's position
as the leader in U.S. programming delivery. It gives PanAmSat's
customers another powerful satellite capable of supporting such
advanced services as HDTV, VOD and IPTV," said Joe Wright, chief
executive officer of PanAmSat. "While we are constantly identifying
growth opportunities such as providing additional satellite
capacity over the U.S. through the Horizons-2 agreement with JSAT
and last month's entry into Europe with the acquisition of
Europe*Star, we feel it is of equal importance to back-up our
state-of-the-art fleet. Galaxy 14 is a dynamic, next-generation
spacecraft designed to meet the needs of tomorrow." Located at 125
degrees west longitude in the U.S. cable arc, Galaxy 14 joins the
first and largest cable neighborhood of satellites in the Unites
States. PanAmSat supports the industry's leading high-definition
neighborhood-Galaxy HD-from these satellites. PanAmSat is committed
to maintaining its leadership position in the transmission of HD
programming. Galaxy 14 will also be an additional satellite
supporting PanAmSat's "Power of Five" antenna program, which
provides qualified cable operators with simultaneous access to five
Galaxy neighborhood satellites. Built and custom-designed for
PanAmSat by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Galaxy 14 is a
1790-kilogram Star 2 Bus model satellite with 24, 36-MHz C-band
transponders. It is the second in a series of three C-band
satellites being constructed by Orbital Sciences for PanAmSat. The
satellite will put out more than double the power of its
predecessors, ready to play a pivotal role in the complete digital
delivery of programming in the U.S. that is mandated by the FCC.
Among Galaxy 14's highlights are: * PanAmSat's 14th satellite for
the United States, the 24th in its fleet. * Additional satellite in
the Galaxy fleet, giving PanAmSat the most redundancy of any FSS
operator. * Part of PanAmSat's coveted U.S. Galaxy cable
neighborhoods. * Available coverage from any slot in the domestic
arc from 74 degrees west longitude to 133 degrees west longitude,
including Hawaii and Alaska as the slots move further west. *
Advanced bus architecture with flight-proven hardware that offers
increased downlink power at the edge of the coverage pattern. *
PanAmSat's 13th consecutive successful launch The Arianespace
launch was an international effort using the Russian man-rated
Soyuz rocket. This is the 14th mission for Starsem which has been
responsible for Soyuz marketing and operation since its inception
in 1996. Starsem's shareholders are Arianespace, EADS, the Russian
Aviation and Space Agency and the Samara Space Center. About
PanAmSat Through its owned and operated fleet of 24 satellites,
PanAmSat (NYSE:PA) is a leading global provider of video,
broadcasting and network distribution and delivery services. It
transmits 1,991 television channels worldwide and, as such, is the
leading carrier of standard and high-definition signals. In total,
the Company's in-orbit fleet is capable of reaching over 98 percent
of the world's population through cable television systems,
broadcast affiliates, direct-to-home operators, Internet service
providers and telecommunications companies. In addition, PanAmSat
supports the largest concentration of satellite-based business
networks in the U.S., as well as specialized communications
services in remote areas throughout the world. For more
information, visit the Company's web site at
http://www.panamsat.com/. DATASOURCE: PanAmSat CONTACT: Kathryn
Lancioni of PanAmSat, +1-203-210-8649 Web site:
http://www.panamsat.com/
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