Integral Systems Awarded Contract to Provide Satellite Control Software For EchoStar VII, EchoStar VIII and EchoStar IX Satellites
Integral Systems, Inc.
today announced the award of a contract from EchoStar Communications
Corporation to provide the primary and backup control software for the
EchoStar VII, VIII, and IX satellites, scheduled for future launch.
EchoStar VII is a Lockheed Martin A2100 satellite, while EchoStar VIII and
IX are both Space Systems/Loral FS1300 satellites.
EchoStar’s existing
control center, also provided by Integral Systems, will be expanded to
incorporate these three additional satellites.
“We are extremely pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with
EchoStar,” said Stuart Daughtridge, vice president of the Commercial Division
at Integral Systems.
“EchoStar’s repeat business with Integral demonstrates
their ongoing satisfaction with our system.
EchoStar has a large, diverse
fleet of geosynchronous satellites, which our proprietary control software can
efficiently operate with a single system.”
The Integral software performs real-time command and control, offline
trending, and satellite navigation in support of the satellites which comprise
the space segment of DISH Network(TM), EchoStar’s state-of-the-art direct
broadcast satellite TV system.
DISH Network provides over 500 channels of
digital video and CD-quality audio programming, as well as advanced satellite
TV receiver hardware and installation.
DISH Network was ranked number one in
overall customer satisfaction among cable/satellite TV subscribers by J.D.
Power and Associates in 1999 and 2000.
EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100
Index (NDX) and is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.
DISH Network
currently serves over 5.26 million customers.
Integral Systems has supplied satellite ground systems to NASA, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Air Force,
the U.S. Navy, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory,
NEWskies Satellites, EchoStar, Sirius Satellite Radio, Binariang Satellite
Systems, Shin Satellite Public Company Ltd., GE Americom, ChinaSat, EOSAT,
Alcatel, TRW, the Republic of China (ROCSAT) and Orbital Sciences, among
others.
Founded in 1982, Integral Systems is a leading provider of satellite
ground systems and has supported over 120 different satellite missions for
communications, science, meteorological and earth resource applications.
The
Company continues to enhance its current position in government and commercial
marketplaces by offering innovative software products and custom services for
ground system development and integration.
Customers throughout the world are
now using Integral Systems’ EPOCH 2000 software product, the world’s first
commercial-off-the-shelf satellite command and control software package.
The
Orbit Analysis System (OASYS) module of EPOCH 2000 also is sold as a stand-
alone product and allows operators to perform satellite orbit determination
and control.
In addition to these products, the Company provides systems for
satellite payload processing, spacecraft integration and test, simulation, and
environmental monitoring.
Through its wholly-owned subsidiary SAT Corporation
(SAT), the Company also now provides satellite and terrestrial monitoring
systems to satellite operators and users throughout the world.
Integral
Systems has more than 230 employees working at Company headquarters in Lanham,
Maryland, and at other locations in the U.S. and Europe, including its SAT
offices in Sunnyvale, California.
(TM)DISH Network is a trademark EchoStar Communications Corporation.
