PanAmSat continues its expansion plan

PanAmSat is continuing its expansion and satellite redeployment plan with the delivery of the third of seven new satellites to Kourou, French Guiana, for launch on an Ariane 4 in mid-April.

Galaxy IVR, the third new satellite to be launched to serve the North American market in four months, will be located at 99°W in geostationary orbit (GEO).

The satellite is a Hughes HS-601 High Power model with 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders.

The next four satellites in the firm's expansion plan are PAS-1R and PAS-9 for the Atlantic region, PAS-10 to serve the Indian Ocean region and Galaxy IIIC to serve the USA and Latin America, bringing to 24 the number of PanAmSat craft in orbit by mid-2001.

As the new seven-satellite fleet is established for the US market, PanAmSat will redeploy the Galaxy VI, VII and XI spacecraft to new locations in GEO.

Source: Flight International