Manufacturer | Hughes Aircraft Company, Boeing Satellite Systems, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Space Systems/Loral, Alcatel Alenia, Northrop Grumman |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Operator | INTELSAT |
Applications | Communications |
Specifications | |
Bus | HS-376, HS-601, BSS-702, STAR-2, SSL 1300, GEOStar-3 |
Regime | Geostationary orbit |
Production | |
Status | In service |
Launched | 39 |
Operational | 21 |
Retired | 14 |
Failed | 3 |
Maiden launch | 28 June 1983 |
Last launch | 3 August 2023 |
The Galaxy series is a family of communications satellites originally developed and operated by Hughes Communications. It has since merged with PanAmSat and is now owned and operated by Intelsat. As one of the earliest geostationary satellites, Galaxy 1 was launched on 28 June 1983. The latest one, Galaxy 37, was launched on 3 August 2023.
Intelsat S.A. is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, from 1964 to 2001, it was an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international telecommunications and broadcast services.
PanAmSat Corporation was a satellite service provider headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1984 by Reynold "Rene" Anselmo, it operated a fleet of communications satellites used by the entertainment industry, news agencies, internet service providers, government agencies, and telecommunication companies. Anselmo got the idea for PanAmSat from Norm Leventhal, a communications lawyer in Washington, D.C., to whom he had turned to for advice regarding difficulties he was encountering in getting reasonably priced satellite transmission for his Spanish International Network (SIN), the current-day Univision. Anselmo financed the entire project himself and Leventhal's law firm, hiring Martin Rothblatt for special satellite technical advice, filed for approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and lining up an initial satellite from RCA Astro-Electronics and a heavily discounted launch from Arianespace.
Galaxy IV was a model HS-601 satellite built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC). The satellite, which carried a payload of both C band and Ku band transponders, was launched on June 24, 1993 and operated by PanAmSat Corporation. It was in geostationary orbit at 99°W.
SES S.A., trading as SES is a Luxembourgish satellite telecommunications network provider supplying video and data connectivity worldwide to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions.
Galaxy 3C is a communications satellite operated by PanAmSat from 2000 to 2006, and by Intelsat from 2006 to today. It spent most of its operational life at an orbital location of 95° W. Galaxy 3C was launched on June 15, 2002, with a Зенит 3SL Zenit launch vehicle, from 154°w, 00°s, and covered North America & S. America (optional) with twenty-four transponders each on the C- and sixteen in Ku band.
Galaxy 4R was a communications satellite operated by PanAmSat from 2000 to 2006, and by Intelsat from 2006 to 2009. It spent most of its operational life at an orbital location of 99° W, a slot once occupied by the Galaxy IV, which suffered a failure in 1998. G4R was launched on April 18, 2000, with an Ariane launch vehicle, and covered North America with twenty-four transponders each on the C- and Ku bands. The satellite was stationed at 76.8°W, inclined.
Hughes Electronics Corporation was formed in 1985 when Hughes Aircraft was sold by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to General Motors for $5.2 billion. Surviving parts of Hughes Electronics are today known as DirecTV Group, while the automotive divisions became Aptiv.
JSAT Corporation (JSAT) was the first private Japanese satellite operator, which owned the JSAT satellites, as well as operated and partially owned the N-Star with NTT DoCoMo. Its origins can be traced to the funding of Japan Communications Satellite Company (JCSAT) and Satellite Japan Corporation in 1985. Both companies merged into Japan Satellite Systems Inc. in 1993. In 2000 the company was renamed as JSAT Corporation and was listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. On September 1, 2008, the company was merged into the SKY Perfect JSAT Group.
Horizons Satellite is a joint venture between Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT Group. Originally formed in 2001, pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between JSAT Corporation and PanAmSat for the launch of Horizons-1, it was renewed for Horizons-2. JSAT later merged into the SKY Perfect JSAT Group and PanAmSat was acquired by Intelsat, but the companies continued with the relationship, with the order for Horizons-3e. Both companies also launched a joint satellite, Intelsat 15/JCSAT-85, but instead of the equal share agreement of this joint venture, JSAT owns a specific payload of 5 transponders out of the 22 Ku band transponders of the spacecraft.
ProtoStar Ltd was a private company incorporated in Bermuda, with U.S. operations based in San Francisco, California and Asian operations based in Singapore. ProtoStar intended to operate an initial fleet of three geostationary satellites. Two satellites were acquired and launched. ProtoStar's anchor customer, Dish TV India Limited, is the largest direct-to-home television operator in India.
Galaxy 10R was an American communications satellite which was operated by PanAmSat, and later Intelsat. It was constructed by Hughes and is based on the HS-601HP satellite bus. Launch occurred on 25 January 2000, at 01:04. The launch was contracted by Arianespace, and used an Ariane 4 42L-3 carrier rocket flying from ELA-2 at the Guiana Space Centre.
Galaxy 11 is an American geostationary communications satellite which is operated by Intelsat. It is located in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 32.8 degrees east, where it serves as a backup to the Intelsat 802 spacecraft. It was originally operated at 99° West and later spent most of its operational life at 91° West, from where it was used to provide communications services to Brazil and North America.
Galaxy 15 is an American telecommunications satellite which is owned by Intelsat. It was launched for and originally operated by PanAmSat, and was subsequently transferred to Intelsat when the two companies merged in 2006. It was originally positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 133° West, from where it was used to provide communication services to North America.
Galaxy 25 (G-25) launched in 1997, contracted by International Launch Services (ILS), formerly known as Intelsat Americas 5 (IA-5) until 15 February 2007 when it was renamed as result of the merger between owner Intelsat and PanAmSat for Telstar 5, is a medium-powered communications satellite formerly in a geostationary orbit at 97° West, above a point in the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles west of the Galapagos Islands. It was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral using its LS-1300 satellite bus and is currently owned and operated by Intelsat. The satellite's main C-band transponder cluster covers the United States, Canada, and Mexico; its main Ku-band transponder cluster covers the United States, Mexico, and the Northern Caribbean Sea. An additional C-band and a Ku-band transponder pair targets Hawaii.
SES-7 is a commercial communications satellite operated by SES World Skies.
Galaxy 5 was a communications satellite operated by PanAmSat from 1992 to 2005. It spent most of its operational life at an orbital location of 176° E. Galaxy 5 was launched on March 14, 1992, with an Atlas launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, United States, and covered North America with twenty-four transponders each on the C- and zero in Ku band.
The Boeing 601 is a retired communications satellite bus designed in 1985 and introduced in 1987 by Hughes Space and Communications Company. The series was extremely popular in the 1990s, with more than 84 purchased by customers globally. The more advanced 601HP derivative was introduced in 1995. Hughes, and the 601 platforms, were acquired by Boeing in 2000.
Horizons-1, also known as Galaxy 13, is a geostationary communications satellite operated by Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT (JSAT) which was designed and manufactured by Boeing on the BSS-601 platform. It has Ku-band and C-band payload and was used to replace Galaxy 9 at the 127.0° West longitude. It covers North America, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico.
Horizons-3e, also known as IS-H3e, is a high throughput geostationary communications satellite ordered by Horizons Satellite, a joint venture of Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT Group. The spacecraft is designed and manufactured by Boeing on the Boeing-702MP platform.
The JSAT constellation is a communication and broadcasting satellite constellation formerly operated by JSAT Corporation and currently by SKY Perfect JSAT Group. It has become the most important commercial constellation in Japan, and fifth in the world. It has practically amalgamated all private satellite operators in Japan, with only B-SAT left as a local competitor.