EchoStar Orders Proton Launch from ILS

McLEAN, Va., Feb. 22, 2007/Satnews Daily/ ― International Launch Services (ILS) announced that EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH) will launch a satellite in 2008 on a Proton Breeze M vehicle.

EchoStar has a long-standing relationship with ILS that includes 100 percent success on all previous launches. ILS President Frank McKenna said the company is happy to have completed this order for a returning customer, and is dedicated to performing reliably and on-schedule to support EchoStar.

The Proton vehicle, built by ILS partner Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia, has carried out more than 320 missions for the Russian government and commercial customers for more than 40 years. The Proton launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

ILS is a joint venture of Space Transport Inc., Khrunichev and RSC Energia. ILS was incorporated in the United States. EchoStar serves more than 13 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network. DISH Network's services include hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming.

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