Successful Launch for Boeing-Built Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 Satellite

On Wed, 1 Oct 2003 18:54:54 +0200, wrote:

Successful Launch for Boeing-Built Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 Satellite

ST. LOUIS, October 01, 2003 – Last night, a successful launch orbited Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1, a Boeing 601HP satellite built by Boeing [NYSE:BA] for PanAmSat Corporation, Wilton, Conn., and JSAT Corporation of Japan. The satellite will provide coverage over North America, Central America, Alaska and Hawaii from an orbital slot between the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. west coast.

The 4,090 kg (8,998 lbs) satellite

So, what was it? Was it 4090 kg = 9016 lb?

Or was it 8998 lb (WTF is that silly "s" doing at the end of their
symbol, anyway) = 4081 kg?

Or maybe a nice round 9000 lb, a number probably best converted to 4.1
Mg?

Or is it the 4060 kg = 8951 lb (they also use that goofy "lbs") at
separation, as stated in the Boing fact sheet at the URL below?
That's probably what it is; maybe just miscopying 4060 as 4090 (or the
other way around on the Boeing page), or maybe some other unstated
error intervening.

When will you rocket scientists learn? All those Fred Flintstone
units do is to allow the opportunity for errors, such as those seen
above.

Gene Nygaard
At the present time, however, the metrical system
is the only system known that has the ghost of a
chance of being adopted universally by the world.
-- Alexander Graham Bell,1906

rocketed to geosynchronous transfer orbit aboard a Zenit-3SL provided by Sea Launch Company, LLC. Lift-off occurred at 9:03 p.m. PDT (4:03 a.m. GMT) from the Sea Launch Odyssey Launch Platform positioned on the equator in the Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft received its first signals at about 10:03 p.m. PDT at a ground station at Fucino, Italy, confirming normal operation.

“Communications satellites have erased the distance between the far corners of the globe,” said Dave Ryan, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing. “Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 will continue that heritage as it also links the aspirations of PanAmSat and JSAT, who will use it to deliver trans-Pacific communications services. We are very proud to continue our legacy of teamwork with these two very important long time customers.”

Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 with a final orbit slot at 127 degrees west longitude is the 207th Boeing-built commercial communications satellite launched to date. Forty years ago this year, the Boeing-built Syncom ushered in a revolution as the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite.

Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 will support PanAmSat’s domestic cable program distribution services as well as the Horizons international joint venture of PanAmSat and JSAT. The spacecraft will carry a total of 48 active transponders, 24 each in Ku-band and C-band. The Horizons partnership will use the spacecraft's Ku-band payload, known as Horizons-1, to offer a variety of digital video, Internet and data services. In addition, the Ku-band payload on Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 will be able to deliver content an
d services between the United States and Asia, using a teleport in Hawaii.

The C-band portion of the new spacecraft, known as Galaxy XIII, will be operated separately as part of PanAmSat's Galaxy cable neighborhood, which serves the domestic U.S. cable industry. Galaxy XIII will be used to replace capacity on Galaxy IX, a Boeing 376 model that will move to a new orbital position and continue to provide services.

PanAmSat Corporation (NASDAQ:SPOT) is the premier provider of global video and data broadcasting services via satellite. For more information on PanAmSat, visit the company's web site at www.panamsat.com. JSAT is a leading satellite operator in the Asia-Pacific region. For more information on JSAT, visit the company's web site at www.jsat.net.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing IDS is a $25 billion business that provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the p
rimary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.

###

Contacts:
Ronea Hart
Boeing Satellite Systems
310-364-7575


Madonna Walsh
Boeing IDS News Bureau
314-234-1362


Note to editors:
High-resolution photos of Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 and QuickTime video clips of a spacecraft deployment animation and other construction milestones are all available for download at: http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...togallery.html

A Galaxy XII/Horizons-1 fact sheet can be accessed at
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...orizons_1.html


Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info