EchoStar Communications Corporation today announced that its EchoStar IV satellite has completed primary testing and has begun moving to its final orbital location at 148 degrees W.L.
EchoStar IV is expected to begin providing local, educational,
foreign language, data and other niche services to the Western United
States by September 1, 1998.
The DBS satellite, launched on May 8, 1998, had originally been
expected to be located at 119 degrees W.L. EchoStar I was then slated
to move from its current location at 119 degrees W.L., to the 148
degrees W.L. location. However, as the company previously announced,
the south solar array on EchoStar IV did not properly deploy,
resulting in a reduction of power available to operate certain
transponders on the satellite. An additional unrelated anomaly
discovered this week has resulted in the failure of one primary and
one spare transponder.
EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen stated that: “EchoStar I and
EchoStar II will remain in their current positions at 119 degrees W.L.
and will continue to provide the high quality service of over 200
channels we have today without interruption or change. By placing
EchoStar IV at the 148 W.L. location, we will have the capacity to
provide more than 150 additional channels of local and other niche
services to the Western United States. Unfortunately, the failures we
have experienced and the fact that we share the 119 degrees W.L.
orbital slot with Primestar, means that we don’t have the flexibility
to operate some of the back up capacity built into the satellite if we
positioned EchoStar IV at 119 degrees W.L. The new plan announced
today will allow us to best utilize the significant capacity of our
four DBS satellites.”
With four operational satellites, EchoStar has more capacity in
space than any other DBS provider.
EchoStar, which is licensed to used 24 frequencies at 148 degrees
W.L., will initially have at least 22 transponders of capacity
available on EchoStar IV at 148 degrees W.L. The number of available
transponders will decrease over time, but at least 16 transponders
should be available for the full planned 12 year life of the
satellite.
EchoStar intends to file an insurance claim with respect to
EchoStar IV in the near future. The company expects to use insurance
proceeds, together with other funds, to launch a new DBS satellite to
the 119 degrees W.L. location in approximately three years. EchoStar I
could then be moved to one of the company’s other DBS orbital
locations and would provide in-orbit back-up.
EchoStar also expects to file an insurance claim with respect to
its EchoStar III satellite, which was launched October 5, 1997. As
previously announced, certain of the electric power converters (EPCs)
on EchoStar III are operating at higher than expected temperatures.
The high EPC temperatures may require certain transponders on EchoStar
III to be turned off for several weeks during summer and winter
solstice seasons to avoid overheating.
As a result, EchoStar III will be operated at 120 watts per
channel, which is typical for 18-inch dish service to the continental
United States. In that mode, tests indicate substantially all of the
satellite’s 32 transponders could be available for the full life of
the satellite notwithstanding the anomalies. EchoStar is currently
licensed to operate only 11 transponders at the 61.5 degrees W.L.
location. If the satellite were operated at a “super high” 230 watts
per channel, approximately half of its 16 channel capacity would be
unavailable during solstice seasons by the end of the satellite’s
planned life.
The insurance claims will be filed through EchoStar’s insurance
broker, J&H Marsh & McLennan. Total losses claimed are expected to
exceed $200 million. The company expects to discuss resolution of the
claims with its insurers over the next few months. No assurance can be
provided as to the ultimate amount that will be paid on the claims.
EchoStar does not maintain insurance for lost profit opportunity.
While causes for the anomalies have not been definitively
established, it appears that the problems relate to design and
construction of the satellites, and not to any problems during launch.
The anomalies appear to be unique to each satellite. There is no
indication that anomalies experienced by either satellite are likely
to be repeated on the other. Both satellites are an A2100AX design
built by Lockheed Martin. While Lockheed has advised the company that
further losses of capacity on EchoStar III and EchoStar IV beyond
those described above are not expected, as with all satellites there
can be no assurance that additional anomalies will not be experienced.
