EchoStar VI Satellite Shipped To Cape Canaveral For July Launch

EchoStar's DISH Network Expands Satellite Fleet To Offer More Channels For Over 4 Million Satellite Television Customers

21-Jun-00

EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH, DISHP) announced that EchoStar VI, EchoStar's newest, high-powered, direct broadcast satellite (DBS), has arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, for launch in July 2000.Built by Space Systems/Loral, EchoStar VI is the most powerful DBS satellite ever manufactured and will offer more channels and services for DISH Networkô satellite television customers.Pending tests, fueling and final integration of the satellite to the launch vehicle, EchoStar VI is tentatively scheduled to be launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket on July 14 at the opening of a two-hour launch window that extends from 1:21am to 3:21am, EDT. The Atlas IIAS booster and the Centaur upper stage portions of the rocket arrived in Cape Canaveral on May 23 from Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, Colorado.EchoStar VI is scheduled to be launched to 148 degrees West Longitude for in-orbit payload testing before moving to a final orbital location where it can offer service to the entire United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.With five satellites in orbit today, EchoStar's satellite fleet already has the capacity to offer more than 500 television channels to its more than 4 million DISH Network satellite TV customers. EchoStar VI is designed to expand DISH Network's digital satellite TV channel capacity, enabling DISH Network to offer more popular video and audio programming, expanded service to Alaska and Hawaii, high definition television and interactive television services, as well as continue to provide more U.S. cities their local networks.Built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, EchoStar VI is an FS-1300 series spacecraft, the most powerful DBS satellite ever manufactured. EchoStar VI will operate with 32, 125-watt Ku-band transponders and will be capable of power-combining to 16 transponders at 250 watts each in order to meet the transmission demands of today's DBS market.DISH Network is EchoStar's state-of-the-art DBS system with the capacity to offer customers 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming as well as fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation. DISH Network, a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation, currently serves over 4 million customers nationwide. DISH Network was ranked number one in customer satisfaction among satellite/cable TV subscribers by J.D. Power and Associates in 1999. EchoStar is included in the NASDAQ-100 Index (NDX), which contains the largest non-financial companies on the NASDAQ Stock Market. For more information, contact 800 333 DISH (3474) or visit www.dishnetwork.com.

Read More:
http://www.dishnetwork.com