The satellite is expected to be launched at the opening of a 10-minute launch window that extends from 6:10 to 6:20 a.m., Baikonur local time. (The time difference translates to 8:10 to 8:20 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 7, 1998.) The satellite, an A2100AX design built by Lockheed Martin with 32 120W Ku-band transponders capable of power-combining to 16 transponders each operating at 240W, will be launched on a Proton launch vehicle.

Subject to FCC approval, EchoStar IV is expected to operate at EchoStar's full conus 119 degrees W.L. orbital location. Together with EchoStar II, it will provide video, audio and data services throughout the Continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska. EchoStar I, currently at 119 degrees W.L. will be transferred to 148 degrees W.L. where the satellite, along with EchoStar III at 61.5 degrees W.L., will expand EchoStar's local programming initiative to include approximately 20 of the largest metropolitan areas and provide expanded international and niche channels, educational and business television and data delivery applications.

``The launch of EchoStar IV completes EchoStar's North American DBS satellite platform and effectively gives EchoStar the capacity to cover the entire United States from the 148 degree W.L. and 61.5 degree W.L. orbital locations,'' said Charles W. Ergen, chairman and CEO, EchoStar Communications Corporation. ``These regional footprints, coupled with EchoStar's DBS national platform at 119 degrees W.L., will position EchoStar to deliver more content to American consumers from a single integrated source than any other multichannel video service provider.''

EchoStar IV is the company's fourth Lockheed Martin-built satellite and the second A2100AX to be completed in Lockheed Martin's new Commercial Satellite Center in Sunnyvale, California. The A2100 Series is Lockheed Martin's latest commercial satellite offering and the most powerful commercial communications satellite available today.

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Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005
The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India.