DirecTV Satellite Set For Launch
Latest Ka-band Satellite Gets Green Light After Two-Day Delay
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 3/18/2008 9:32:00 AM
The postponed launch of DirecTV’s newest satellite is now set to go Wednesday, according to officials.
Sea Launch Tuesday said it was proceeding with the liftoff of DirecTV 11 at 3:48 p.m. PDT tomorrow. The company had put a hold on the countdown for the launch, which was originally slated for Monday, “to allow the team to study an issue,” Sea Launch had said on its web site.
DirecTV 11 is one of three Boeing 702-model satellites built for the satellite provider, and is one of the largest and most powerful Ka-band satellites built to date.
“The on-board technology of this direct-to-home satellite will enable DirecTV to continue to expand its massive capacity expansion and further strengthen its position as the leading provider of high definition programming,” Sea Change said in a recent press release.
DirecTV 11 will be the fourth satellite that Sea Launch has deployed for DirecTV. The Odyssey Launch Platform is in the Pacific Ocean, on the equator 1,400 miles south of the island of Hawaii.
Competitor Dish Network, which is also dealing with a significant problem launching its latest satellite, Tuesday issued a press release insisting that an “anomaly” with AMC-14, a satellite that didn’t reach the correct orbital position when it was launched last Friday, would not hamper its ongoing HD rollout.
However, in a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dish said that “the launch anomaly will result in a delay in our roll out of some high definition channels, including some local network channels.”
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