Hughes' Spaceway 3 Satellite Arrives at Arianespace Launch Facility in French Guiana
GERMANTOWN, Md., July 16 -- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) today announced that its Spaceway(TM) 3 satellite has arrived at the Arianespace launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana where the Ariane 5 heavy launcher will launch the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The scheduled launch date is August 14, 2007
The Spaceway 3 satellite will operate in the globally assigned Ka-band spectrum and will be used to provide a new range of satellite broadband services to enterprise, consumer, and government customers throughout North America. Its innovative design includes onboard dynamic multi-beam switching to deliver bandwidth on demand and direct site-to-site mesh networking. This technology eliminates the requirement for broadband traffic to be routed through a central hub earth station.
"This is a very exciting time for Hughes," said Pradman Kaul, chairman and CEO of Hughes. "With the anticipated launch of Spaceway 3, our customers will benefit from the new, value-added services Hughes will be able to offer. Hughes is truly entering a new era as a satellite system operator, strengthening its global leadership in the provision of advanced satellite networks and services."
SPACEWAY 3 was built by Boeing Satellite Systems and is based on the company's Boeing 702 spacecraft platform.
About Arianespace
Arianespace is the commercial launch Service & Solutions leader, holding more than 50 percent of the international market for satellites launched to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Created in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company, Arianespace has signed contracts for the launch of more than 280 satellite payloads. For further information, see the Arianespace Web site at www.arianespace.com.
About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNe® encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 1.2 million systems to customers in over 100 countries. Its broadband satellite products are based on the IPoS (IP over Satellite) global standard, approved by the TIA, ETSI, and ITU standards organizations.
Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUGH). For additional information, please visit www.hughes.com.
Source: Hughes Network Systems, LLC
CONTACT: Judy Blake, Hughes Network Systems, LLC, +1-301-601-7330, or jblake@hns.com,
Web site: www.hns.com/ www.hughes.com/ www.arianespace.com/
