Proton launches DirecTV satellite
Posted: Sat, Jul 7, 2007, 9:16 AM ET (1316 GMT)
An upgraded Proton rocket successfully launched a television broadcasting satellite for DirecTV early Saturday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:16 pm EDT Friday (0116 GMT, 7:16 am local time Saturday) and placed the DirecTV 10 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit approximately nine hours later. The spacecraft, a Boeing 702 model, weighs 5,900 kilograms and carries 131 Ka-band transponders. The satellite will operate from 102.8 degrees west in GEO, where it will be used by satellite TV company DirecTV to provide high-definition television programming for customers in the US. The launch was the first for the "enhanced" version of the Proton, featuring a number of design changes to reduce the vehicle's mass and thus increase its payload capacity; DirecTV 10 is the heaviest GEO spacecraft launched by a Proton.
An upgraded Proton rocket successfully launched a television broadcasting satellite for DirecTV early Saturday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:16 pm EDT Friday (0116 GMT, 7:16 am local time Saturday) and placed the DirecTV 10 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit approximately nine hours later. The spacecraft, a Boeing 702 model, weighs 5,900 kilograms and carries 131 Ka-band transponders. The satellite will operate from 102.8 degrees west in GEO, where it will be used by satellite TV company DirecTV to provide high-definition television programming for customers in the US. The launch was the first for the "enhanced" version of the Proton, featuring a number of design changes to reduce the vehicle's mass and thus increase its payload capacity; DirecTV 10 is the heaviest GEO spacecraft launched by a Proton.
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Saturday, November 23
DirecTV Abandons Deal to Acquire Dish Amid Bondholder Opposition
Hollywood Reporter — 2:16 am ET (0716 GMT) DirecTV Ditches Dish Deal
Variety — 2:16 am ET (0716 GMT) DirecTV calling off Dish Network takeover after bondholders balk
Los Angeles Times — 2:15 am ET (0715 GMT) DirecTV terminates Dish deal over failed debt swap
Reuters — 2:14 am ET (0714 GMT) DirecTV announces termination of deal to buy Dish satellite business
Ars Technica — 2:13 am ET (0713 GMT) |
