EchoStar

EchoStar Corporation is a global satellite services provider and developer of hybrid video delivery technologies. It is the owner and operator of the satellite fleet for closely affiliated Dish Network. The company also designs and manufactures set-top boxes to receive the Freeview broadcasts in the United Kingdom, and receivers for Bell TV in Canada. It also owns Sling Media, which designs and builds the Slingbox TV streaming device, and satellite internet provider Hughes Communications. Prior to 2008, it operated the Dish Network service brand, which was spun off as Dish Network Corporation on January 1, 2008.

History

EchoStar was originally formed in 1980 by its chairman Charles Ergen as a distributor of C band TV systems. In 1987, it applied for a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) license with the Federal Communications Commission and was granted access to orbital slot 119° west longitude in 1992.

On December 28, 1995, the firm successfully launched its first satellite, EchoStar I. On March 4, 1996, it established the Dish Network brand name to market its home satellite TV system.

EchoStar XVI

EchoStar XVI is an American geostationary communications satellite which is operated by EchoStar. It is positioned in geostationary orbit, and will be located at a longitude of 61.5° West, from where it is intended to provide direct broadcasting of high-definition television services to the United States for Dish Network.

EchoStar XVI was built by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus. It is equipped with 32 J band (IEEE K_u band) transponders. At launch it had a mass of 6,258 kilograms (13,797 lb). It has a design life of fifteen years. It has a common configuration with EchoStar XI and EchoStar XV.

The launch of EchoStar XVI was conducted by International Launch Services, using a Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M upper stage. The launch occurred on 20 November 2012, 18:31 UTC from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Creative Time was launched with EchoStar XVI into outer space an archival disc created by artist Trevor Paglen called The Last Pictures. Made of ultra-archival materials, the disc is expected to orbit the Earth for billions of years affixed to the exterior of the communications satellite. A silicon disc has one hundred photographs selected to represent modern human history.

EchoStar VI

EchoStar VI or EchoStar 6 is former American communications satellite which was operated by private EchoStar company and then was transferred to Bermuda as BermudaSat 1.

It was constructed by Space Systems Loral and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus. Its launch was contracted by International Launch Services, using an Atlas IIAS carrier rocket. The launch occurred at 05:21 GMT on 14 July 2000 from Space Launch Complex 36B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

It was originally built as Sky 1B or MCI-2 for MCI Communications. This was later cancelled and the satellite was rebuilt as Echostar VI. Following its launch and on-orbit testing, it was placed in geostationary orbit at 73° West, from where it provides broadcast and communications services to Europe using wide-band feeds. It carries thirty two transponders, and has an expected on-orbit lifespan of 12 years.

In March and August 2010, the satellite experienced solar-array anomalies resulting in the loss of 24 (of an initial 108) solar cell strings. Although the anomalies did not reduce the estimated useful life, the power reduction limits it to operating 24 DBS transponders (of the initial 32) at approximately 125 watts per channel, or 12 DBS transponders (of an original 16) at approximately 250 watts per channel. After that in April 2013 the satellite was moved to Bermuda’s owned another geostationary point at 96,2° West, leased to Bermuda’s telecommunication company and renamed