PAS-10 will be rocketed into space aboard a Proton launch vehicle and will provide digital video, data and Internet services throughout a 30-million square mile footprint.

"PAS-10, which will deliver broadcast, high-speed data and Internet services across Europe, Africa and Asia, demonstrates our strong commitment to our long-term and valued customers," Robert A. Bednarek, PanAmSat's executive vice president and chief technology officer.

"When PAS-10 goes into operation it also will enable PanAmSat to target new growth opportunities emerging in the Indian subcontinent as well as Central and Western Asia."

PAS-10, which contains 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, will succeed the PAS-4 Indian Ocean Region satellite at 68.5 degrees east longitude.

At that location, the company's latest spacecraft will broadcast some of the world's top international programming to audiences throughout its footprint, including the BBC, CNN, CCTV, Discovery, Doordarshan, ESPN, MTV, NHK, Nickelodeon, Sony and TNT.

PAS-10's Ku-band payload, which offers 60 percent more Ku-band transmission power than that of the PAS-4 satellite, contains multiple high- powered beams focused on Africa, Europe, India, the Middle East, Central and Western Asia as well as Northeast Asia.

Many of these beams can be switched between the various regions, offering greater versatility and flexible service options for the creation of new platforms for the delivery of data and IP-based services.

With the 2001 launch of PAS-10 PanAmSat's fleet will expand to 23, with plans for a 24th also to launch in 2001. When this 24th satellite is launched, PanAmSat will have more than 900 transponders providing satellite-based video and data broadcasting services.

PanAmSat ordered PAS-10 in Sept. 1999. A Boeing 601HP satellite, PAS-10 will carry a total of 48 transponders, 24 in C-band and 24 in Ku-band. The satellite is scheduled for a Proton rocket launch in early 2001.

PAS-10 is based on the Boeing 601 (HS601) satellites that offer a three-axis, body-stabilized bus. The series was introduced in 1987, and a high-power "HP" version debuted in 1994.

PAS-10 will feature such innovations as dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells, built by Spectrolab, with the ability to convert nearly 22% of the sun's rays into electrical power; and XIPS, a xenon ion propulsion system built by Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices (formerly Hughes Electron Dynamics) that is 10 times more efficient than conventional bipropellant systems.

With XIPS, a 90% reduction of propellant mass is possible, enabling the customer to opt for more payload, reduced launch costs, longer satellite life, or any combination of the above.

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