Press Release

Boeing 702 Satellite Set to Launch with New Solar Array Design

By SpaceRef Editor
June 5, 2002
Filed under , ,

The June 15 launch of Galaxy
IIIC, a Boeing-built 702 satellite, will mark the return-to-flight of
the world’s highest capacity and most powerful communications
satellite. Galaxy IIIC, the seventh in the Boeing 702 series, will be
the first Boeing 702 to carry Boeing’s latest in solar array
technology.

Galaxy IIIC is scheduled to launch at 3:39 p.m. PDT (6:39 p.m. EDT,
10:39 p.m. GMT) from the Equator on a Sea Launch rocket. The satellite
will provide service to the Unites States and Latin America and will
add 77 channels of transmission capabilities to PanAmSat Corporation’s
fleet, one of the world’s largest geostationary satellite systems. The
launch marks the twenty-third satellite that Boeing has built for
PanAmSat over the past two decades. Boeing Space and Communications
(S&C), a unit of The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], built the satellite.

“We have complete confidence in the quality and reliability of the
Galaxy IIIC satellite,” said Randy Brinkley, president of Boeing
Satellite Systems, the satellite manufacturing arm of Boeing S&C. “We
look forward to demonstrating the satellite’s on-orbit performance,
which will reassure our customers that the Boeing 702 is the world’s
top choice for reliability, flexibility, and the
lowest-cost-per-transponder satellite service.

“The redesigned solar array is a ‘tried and true’ flat planar array
that has served our customers well over the last 10 years on our
Boeing 601 satellites,” Brinkley added. Besides the classic design, we
have incorporated rigorous quality standards that are based on the
“Boeing Best Practices” we have implemented over the last several
months.”

With a 15-year contract life, Galaxy IIIC will operate at both the
C-band and Ku-band frequencies from its orbital position at 95 degrees
West longitude. The wide coverage area provides PanAmSat with the
flexibility to adjust its market coverage accordingly. The satellite
carries 24 C-band transponders and 53 Ku-band transponders.

PanAmSat Corporation [NASDAQ: SPOT], based in Wilton, Conn., is a
leading provider of global video and data broadcasting services via
satellite. The company builds, owns and operates networks that deliver
entertainment and information to cable television systems, television
broadcast affiliates, direct-to-home operators, Internet service
providers, telecommunications companies and corporations.

Sea Launch Company, L.L.C., headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., is
the world’s only ocean-based, equatorial launch service. The
international partnership of Boeing (U.S.), Energia (Russia),
Yuzhmash/Yuzhnoye (Ukraine) and Kvaerner (Norway) provides reliable,
affordable, high performance launch services for commercial payloads
in the 4,500-6,000 kilogram range to geosynchronous transfer orbit
(GTO) with the Zenit-3SL vehicle. Galaxy IIIC is the seventh
Boeing-built satellite to be launched by Sea Launch.

Boeing S&C, headquartered in Seal Beach, Calif., is the world’s
largest space and communications company. A unit of The Boeing
Company, S&C provides integrated solutions in launch services, human
space flight and exploration, missile defense, and information and
communications. It is NASA’s largest contractor; a leading provider of
space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S.
missile defense; and a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance. The global enterprise has customers worldwide and
manufacturing operations throughout the United States and Australia.

SpaceRef staff editor.