EchoStar said Wednesday that its EchoStar IV satellite will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Friday, May 8, 1998.
The satellite is expected to be launched at the opening of a
10-minute launch window that extends from 6:10 to 6:20 a.m., Baikonur
local time. (The time difference translates to 8:10 to 8:20 p.m.
EDT, Thursday, May 7, 1998.) The satellite, an A2100AX design built
by Lockheed Martin with 32 120W Ku-band transponders capable of
power-combining to 16 transponders each operating at 240W, will be
launched on a Proton launch vehicle.
Subject to FCC approval, EchoStar IV is expected to operate at
EchoStar's full conus 119 degrees W.L. orbital location. Together
with EchoStar II, it will provide video, audio and data services
throughout the Continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska.
EchoStar I, currently at 119 degrees W.L. will be transferred to 148
degrees W.L. where the satellite, along with EchoStar III at 61.5
degrees W.L., will expand EchoStar's local programming initiative to
include approximately 20 of the largest metropolitan areas and
provide expanded international and niche channels, educational and
business television and data delivery applications.
“The launch of EchoStar IV completes EchoStar's North American
DBS satellite platform and effectively gives EchoStar the capacity to
cover the entire United States from the 148 degree W.L. and 61.5
degree W.L. orbital locations,'' said Charles W. Ergen, chairman
and CEO, EchoStar Communications Corporation. “These regional
footprints, coupled with EchoStar's DBS national platform at 119
degrees W.L., will position EchoStar to deliver more content to
American consumers from a single integrated source than any other
multichannel video service provider.''
EchoStar IV is the company's fourth Lockheed Martin-built
satellite and the second A2100AX to be completed in Lockheed Martin's
new Commercial Satellite Center in Sunnyvale, California. The A2100
Series is Lockheed Martin's latest commercial satellite offering and
the most powerful commercial communications satellite available
today.
