"Our number-one commitment is to our customers. After extensive analysis, we determined that launching a new satellite is the best way to ensure long-term continuity of service," said Frederick A. Landman, president and chief executive officer of PanAmSat. "PAS-6B will enable Sky to deliver hundreds of digital DTH television channels in South America to the year 2014 and beyond."

"NetSat successfully added a total of 84 channels to its Brazilian line-up back in December 1997," said Mauricio Vaz, chief operating officer of NetSat. "We have since significantly increased our sales and market share, and we are glad to see PanAmSat's commitment to support us in our efforts to continuously provide superior service to our growing subscriber base."

"We are pleased that PanAmSat has committed to launch PAS-6B to ensure uninterrupted service to our subscribers in South America," said Mark Goldman, president and chief operating officer of Sky Latin America, which is in charge of the Multi-Country Platform. "In December we launched our complete service in Colombia, and we recently enhanced our programming offering by adding eight new channels. The current developments have not affected our performance."

The PAS-6B Atlantic Ocean Region satellite is already under construction by Hughes Space and Communications Co. and will be completed on an expedited schedule. The HS 601 HP satellite will contain 32 high-power Ku-band transponders with South American coverage. Arianespace is scheduled to launch the satellite from Kourou, French Guiana, during the 4th quarter of 1998.

The current PAS-6 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, was launched on August 8, 1997, and commenced service on September 19, 1997. The satellite has experienced several circuit failures in the spacecraft's solar arrays, which have required PanAmSat to forego use of some transponders initially and will require the company to turn off additional transponders in later years.

Until PAS-6B is operational, PanAmSat will continue to provide NetSat and the Multi-Country Platform with service on the PAS-6 and PAS-3 satellites, which are both located at 43 degrees West Longitude. PAS-6B will be co-located in that orbital slot to ensure seamless migration of the South American DTH services. NetSat, which provides the Sky service in Brazil, and Sky Colombia, part of the Multi-Country Platform, are already using PAS-6 and PAS-3. PanAmSat is evaluating several options for the long-term use of available PAS-6 capacity, including backup service to PAS-6B and relocation of the PAS-6 satellite to a new orbital slot.

Sky is the brand name of the DTH service offered by the strategic alliance of Organizacoes Globo, Brazil's leading entertainment group, Mexico's Grupo Televisa, S.A., the largest production and media company in the Spanish-speaking world, News Corp one of the world's largest media companies, and Tele-Communications International Inc., a subsidiary of one of the world's leading telecommunications companies. The alliance will provide a 24-hour digital DTH television service to all of Latin America and the Caribbean region broadcasting hundreds of digital television channels with crystal-clear pictures and CD-quality sound to its subscribers. Sky officially launched in Brazil in October 1996, in Mexico in December 1996 and in Colombia in December 1997.

PanAmSat Related Links

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

SPACEDAILY

TRW Wins Space Laser Contract
Redondo Beach - March 19, 1998 -
TRW and Boeing working together under a new teaming agreement known as Team SBL (Space-Based Laser), have been awarded a six-month, $10 million study contract to define concepts for a Space-Based Laser Readiness Demonstrator (SBLRD).