SPACEWAY-2

SPACEWAY-2 is part of DirecTV’s constellation of direct broadcast satellites. The satellite was launched via an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 16 November 2005. Its operational position is in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles (35,800 km) above the equator at 99.2 degrees west longitude. SPACEWAY-2 is a Boeing 702-model satellite with a 12-year life expectancy. It is expected to support high definition television to DirecTV customers with its K_a-band communications payload. Although SPACEWAY-2 was originally built by Boeing to be used for broadband Internet access via HughesNet, it has been retrofitted to deliver HD local channels (NBC, ABC, CBS, & FOX) to numerous markets nationwide.

On April 19th, 2006 the satellite was delivered to DirecTV's control after successful on-orbit testing. SPACEWAY-2 immediately started broadcasting HD locals to DirecTV customers in eight more markets: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sacramento and San Diego, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Nashville, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri.; Columbus, Ohio; and Birmingham, Alabama. Satellites named DirecTV-10 (launched 2007) and DirecTV-11 (launched 2008), constructed by Boeing, also for use in high definition television, use bent-pipe K_a-band satellites instead of regenerative satellites, and are being used to continue the expansion of DirecTV's HD services.

The third satellite in the SPACEWAY series called SPACEWAY-3 was launched on 14 August 2007. This satellite is instead expected to be used by Hughes Network Systems as part of its business and consumer broadband satellite service currently called HughesNet.

SPACEWAY-2 was originally part of the SPACEWAY system envisioned as a global K_a-band communications system.

Boeing retrofitted the SPACEWAY-2 satellite for bent-pipe K_a-band communications for use in high definition television and disabled the regenerative on-board processing of the original system that was to be used for the SPACEWAY broadband satellite communications.

DirecTV-10 and DirecTV-11 are to be co-located with SPACEWAY-1 and SPACEWAY-2 satellites, respectively, in order to use the 500 MHz of unused spectrum for HDTV broadcasting. This spectrum was originally intended for the broadband internet capabilities of the two SPACEWAY satellites which were disabled by Hughes at the request of DirecTV.

ee also

*DIRECWAY
*SPACEWAY
*DirecTV
* [http://www.arianespace.com/site/news/kit/Vol_167_GB.pdf Arianespace Spaceway 2 Launch Info]
* [http://www.arianespace.com/site/news/releases/presrel05_11_16.html Spaceway 2 Launch Press Release]

External links

* [http://www.spacewaydsl.com/What_is_Spaceway/ What is Spaceway-2?]