Engineers at DirecTV, Inc. and Hughes Space and Communications Company confirmed today that a spacecraft control processor (SCP) aboard the DBS-1 satellite failed on July 4, 1998. As designed, control of the HS 601-model satellite was automatically switched to the spare SCP and the spacecraft is currently operating normally.
At no time did DirecTV’s more than 3.7 million subscribers
experience any loss of service.
DirecTV maintains a redundant infrastructure to anticipate and
mitigate the consequences of possible satellite failures. In the
event that the back-up SCP on-board DBS-1 should also fail, DirecTV
would immediately switch most of the affected programming services
to the DBS-2 and DBS-3 satellites, which are collocated with DBS-1
at 101-degrees WL. In addition, DirecTV continues to actively
pursue other satellite back-up and fleet expansion strategies
consistent with its long-term business plans.
