A very special satellite, built by Space Systems Loral (SSL), has arrived at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where it will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 9:00 PM.
This satellite is a concerted effort between Space Systems Loral (SSL) and Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), which SSL designed and built for Hughes. The satellite arrived at Cape Canaveral's Air Force Station in Florida, where it will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle.
EchoStar XIX will be the world's highest capacity broadband satellite that will dramatically increase capacity for HughesNet® high-speed satellite Internet service in North America. EchoStar XIX will join EchoStar XVII and SPACEWAY® 3 that together will help to power the continued growth of HughesNet, an American Internet satellite service.
When launched, EchoStar XIX will provide significantly more capacity than EchoStar XVII, which was also built by SSL and launched in 2012. EchoStar XIX will enable the next generation of HughesNet with more speed, more data and more advanced features for consumers and small businesses coast to coast who are unserved or underserved by terrestrial broadband Internet services.
Like EchoStar XVII, EchoStar XIX is a large, multi-spot beam Ka-band satellite based on the SSL 1300 platform, which has the capability to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. SSL has built nearly 50 satellites with HTS payloads, including two of the highest capacity broadband satellites in service today, and the world's first true high throughput satellite, which was launched in 2005.
John Celli, president of SSL said, "SSL and Hughes have a long term collaborative relationship that has helped to expand the limits of satellite technology. We worked closely to develop one of the world's highest capacity satellites on orbit today and it has been our pleasure to further advance satellite's capability with EchoStar XIX, which will bring the benefits of quality, high-speed Internet service to families and businesses."
"SSL has been an innovative and reliable partner in the expansion of our highly advanced satellite fleet," said Pradman Kaul, president of Hughes. "EchoStar XIX will provide us with added capacity to meet the burgeoning demand for HughesNet® high-speed satellite Internet service and we look forward to next month's launch with great anticipation."