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CAPE CANAVERAL AIR STATION, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17,
1999--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH, DISHP)
announced today that the launch of the EchoStar V communications
satellite on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket has been rescheduled
for Wednesday, Sept. 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 EchoStar's
DISH Network™, 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, Sept. 22 and continuing through
spacecraft separation approximately 30 minutes following liftoff.
EchoStar V was built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif.,
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 Lockheed's Space and Strategic
Missiles Sector headquartered in Bethesda, Md. Mission management is
provided by International Launch Services, from San Diego, Calif.,
which formed in 1995 to jointly market launch services on Atlas and
the Russian-built Proton launch vehicles.
EchoStar Communications Corp., includes three interrelated
business units:
- DISH Network™ is EchoStar's state-of-the-art DBS system that
will soon offer customers over 500 channels of digital video and
CD-quality audio programming, fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware
and installation. DISH Network was rated number one in customer
satisfaction in the pay TV industry by the J.D. Power and
Associates 1999 Cable/Satellite TV Customer Satisfaction Study.
- EchoStar Technologies Corporation designs, manufactures and
distributes DBS set-top boxes, antennas and other digital
equipment for the DISH Network and various international
customers that include ExpressVu Canada and Telefonica's Via
Digital system in Spain. ETC provides construction, oversight and
project integration services for customers internationally. ETC
also oversees EchoStar Data Networks Corporation in Atlanta, a
leading supplier of MediaStream® technology for distributing
Internet content over satellite networks.
- Satellite Services provides the delivery of video, audio and data
services to business television customers and other satellite
users. These services include satellite uplink, satellite
transponder space usage and other services. Satellite Services
also administers SKY VISTA, a direct broadcast satellite service
offering popular digital satellite television programming to
viewers in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories
in the Caribbean.
DISH Network currently serves 2.8 million customers and is a
trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation. DISH Network is
located on the Internet at www.dishnetwork.com.
--30--SH/dx*
CONTACT: EchoStar Communications Corp.
Judianne Atencio, Dir. of Communications, 303/723-2010
e-mail: judianne.atencio@echostar.com
or
International Launch Services
Julie Andrews, 619/645-6400
KEYWORD: COLORADO CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT