Space News October 17, 2005

DirecTV Takes Control of Spaceway F1 Satellite

Boeing announced October 10 it has completed the on-orbit delivery of the Spaceway F1 satellite to DirecTV of El Segundo, Calif., which will use the Ka-band spacecraft to broadcast local high-definition television channels in some of the United States’ largest markets.

Spaceway F1, a Boeing 702-model geo-stationary satellite designed and manufactured at Boeing’s Satellite Development Center in El Segundo, was launched in late April aboard a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket. It is part of DirecTV’s next generation of direct-to-home broadcast satellites. The satellite will serve a total of 36 million homes in such large U. S. markets as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York and Washington, according to DirecTV.

Spaceway F1’s sister satellite, Spaceway F2, is slated for launch later this year, with another two DirecTV spacecraft scheduled to go up in the next two years. All four satellites will allow DirecTV to broadcast up to 1,500 local high-definition television channels and 150 national high-definition channels to most U. S. households by 2007.