PanAmSat Corporation announced Monday that it had successfully completed the final customer transition to its Galaxy IIIC satellite, making the spacecraft the 22nd in its global fleet.
Operating at 95 degrees west longitude, Galaxy IIIC will support some of the world’s video and telecommunications powerhouses for their operations across North America, South America and the Caribbean. At the commencement of service, approximately 70 percent of the transponders on Galaxy IIIC were already under contract with customers.
“The successful transition of customers on to Galaxy IIIC marks the completion of our fleet upgrade program over four years at a cost of over $2.5 billion, which is now behind us, resulting in a satellite fleet with the greatest average lifespan in the industry. Our primary focus now is increasing the utilization of our satellites, which are operating at 70 percent of capacity,” said Joe Wright, president and chief executive officer of PanAmSat.
“By beginning service on Galaxy IIIC, PanAmSat has done what it set out to do– provide its customers with one of the most modern, flexible and reliable fleets in the market.”
Launched on June 15, 2002, Galaxy IIIC is a Boeing 702-model satellite containing 24 C-band and 52 Ku-band transponders. Galaxy IIIC takes over for Galaxy IIIR and Galaxy VIIIi, which will continue to provide partial services at 95 degrees west longitude.
Customers were transitioned from Galaxy IIIR to Galaxy IIIC including DIRECTV Latin America. DIRECTV Latin America, which was also transitioned from Galaxy VIIIi, will use the satellite’s extended Ku-band payload for distribution of its Direct-To-Home programming.
This new satellite is the latest and most powerful addition to the coveted Galaxy neighborhood that serves nine of the top 10 cable networks in North America. In total, PanAmSat’s fleet has an average remaining life of over nine years and is one of the youngest fleets in the industry.
“On October 29, Galaxy IIIC successfully completed comprehensive in-orbit testing and entered commercial service with our customers’ signals undergoing a flawless transition from Galaxy IIIR,” said Jim Frownfelter, executive vice president and chief technology officer of PanAmSat.
“PanAmSat’s accomplished team of technical professionals established a proactive approach to the spacecraft transition, coordinating efforts between our customers and our operations team to efficiently activate service for all parties involved.”
