PanAmSat’s new PAS-1R Satellite in Position to Power Top Video, Internet, and Data Customers
PanAmSat Corporation today announced that the company’s newest satellite, the PAS-1R Atlantic Ocean Region spacecraft, is on station and ready to begin delivering advanced video and data broadcasting services later this month. Following a
November 2000 launch and comprehensive in-orbit maneuvers, PAS-1R is now
positioned in its permanent orbital slot at 45 degrees west longitude, where
it will enable PanAmSat to meet its customers’ needs for communications
services throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa.
PAS-1R’s service commencement will not only add more powerful and
comprehensive coverage of the Atlantic Ocean Region, but will also signal
the retirement of PAS-1, the world’s first commercial international
communications satellite. PanAmSat launched PAS-1 in June 1988 to become the
first company to deliver commercial international satellites services,
creating a competitive market that has advanced communications technologies
and services throughout the world.
“PAS-1 sparked a chain reaction that has significantly altered the
communications landscape, creating the commercial international satellite
services industry and opening markets around the globe. It was also the
catalyst for new services and technologies, such as international cable
television distribution, satellite news gathering and digital video
compression,” said R. Douglas Kahn, PanAmSat’s president and chief executive
officer. “With this experience in hand, PanAmSat will take advantage of
PAS-1R to continue to introduce the latest communications services and build
the networks that deliver information and entertainment to the world.”
PAS-1R is a Boeing 702 model spacecraft with an advanced communications
payload consisting of 36 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders, each supplying
36 MHz of bandwidth. The PAS-1R satellite is capable of broadcasting
billions of bits of digital video and data throughout the Americas, Europe
and Africa. The spacecraft will also support PanAmSat’s current and future
Internet initiatives in those regions, delivering broadband U.S. Internet
backbone access to rural and remote areas as well as broadcasting IP content
to potentially thousands of locations simultaneously.
Some of the customers that will begin transitioning to the new spacecraft
include: Impsat, Cisneros Television Group, CTC Mundo, TelefÛnica Data
Colombia, Reuters, Zona Franca Montevideo, Suratel, Vitacom de Colombia and
DIRECTV Latin America.
PAS-1R highlights:
More than twice the capacity of the original PAS-1 satellite, offering a
total of more than 2,500 MHz of capacity.
New C-band capacity for Europe and Africa, offering C-band connectivity
between Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Africa, in addition to the
Americas.
More than three times as much power per C-band transponder than on PAS-1.
Three times the Ku-band capacity of PAS-1, offering Ku-band connectivity
between Europe and Africa as well as Latin America for the delivery of
high-speed data and broadband Internet services.
More than seven times as much power per Ku-band transponder than on PAS-1.
Concurrently, PanAmSat updated its launch schedule by announcing that the
PAS-10 Indian Ocean Region satellite will be launched in the second quarter
2001 and the Galaxy IIIC spacecraft will be launched in the third quarter
2001. PanAmSat expects that the revised PAS-10 and Galaxy IIIC launch dates
will not have a material impact on the company’s projected 2001 financial
results, primarily because the satellites are intended as replacements for
existing spacecraft, which will continue to produce revenue.
Based upon information provided by the satellite manufacturer, Boeing
Satellite Systems, the following chart outlines PanAmSat’s current launch
schedule and the expected in-service dates of the planned satellites. The
company’s launch providers have indicated that they can accommodate the
current launch schedule.
Satellite Spacecraft Model Prior Launch/In-Service Current Launch/In-Service
Launch Provider
PAS-10 Boeing 601 HP 1Q 2001/2Q 2001 2Q 2001/3Q 2001 ILS Proton
Galaxy IIIC Boeing 702 2Q 2001/3Q 2001 3Q 2001/4Q 2001 Sea Launch
