Lockheed Martin Reschedules Launch Of EchoStar Communications Satellite For September 22
EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH, DISHP) announced that the launch of the EchoStar V communications satellite on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 22 at 1:08 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. The launch, which was previously scheduled for last Monday morning, was postponed to allow engineers time to analyze an avionics unit that failed in factory testing and to prepare for impending weather associated with Hurricane Floyd. Since then, the avionics unit, a part of the Atlas launch vehicle control system, has been cleared and the hurricane has passed without causing any damage to the Atlas AC-155 rocket. The launch of EchoStar V to its position at 110 degrees west longitude will mark a turning point in television history: it will add 150 more channels to the existing 350 channels available on EchoStarís DISH Networkô, which will become the first TV provider in the nation to offer 500 channels using a single small dish pointed at both the 110 degree W.L. and the 119 degree W.L. orbital slots. The launch will be broadcast live on DISH Network on channel 100. The broadcast is also available live on Galaxy 6, Transponder 5 (C-band, downlink frequency 3800 MHz) starting with test signals at 12:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 22 and continuing through spacecraft separation approximately 30 minutes following liftoff. EchoStar V was built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, California, based on its FS 1300 design. Launch operations are provided by Lockheed Martin Astronautics at its Cape Canaveral Air Station Complex 36 facility. Astronautics is one of the operating elements of Lockheedís Space and Strategic Missiles Sector headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Mission management is provided by International Launch Services, from San Diego, California, which formed in 1995 to jointly market launch services on Atlas and the Russian-built Proton launch vehicles.