An artist's concept of PAS-9 orbiting Earth. Photo: Hughes

Hughes Space and Communications Co. (HSC), the world's largest satellite manufacturer, says PanAmSat's PAS-9 Atlantic Ocean Region satellite, a Hughes 601HP model spacecraft, has been delivered to Long Beach, Calif.-based Sea Launch for liftoff on Friday, July 28, at 3:42 p.m. PDT (6:42 p.m. EDT, 10:42 p.m. GMT).

PAS-9 is one of three satellites ordered by PanAmSat in October 1998, and is the fourth Hughes-built satellite to launch for PanAmSat in seven months. PAS-9 will use 24 C- and 24 Ku-band transponders to provide video, data and Internet services for the Americas, the Caribbean and western Europe, plus direct-to-home services for Mexico in Ku-band. The satellite will replace PAS-5 at 58 degrees West longitude.

"The launch of PAS-9 is significant, for it initiates PanAmSat's international expansion plan," said Tig H. Krekel, president and chief executive officer of HSC. "Since December, HSC has delivered three satellites to PanAmSat, and they have all been for its Galaxy fleet of satellites. With the launch of PAS-9, the first of three Hughes-built international satellites will enter service, followed by PAS-1R, a Hughes 702, later this year, and a third, PAS-10, a Hughes 601HP, in early 2001. Our commitment to PanAmSat, one of our largest customers, remains firm."

At beginning of life on orbit, the 2,389-kilogram (5,268-pound) satellite, fully deployed, will measure 26 meters (86 feet) in length and 7 meters (23 feet) in width. PAS-9 will have 9.9 kilowatts of spacecraft power on-orbit. The satellite will use dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells produced by HSC affiliate Spectrolab Inc. to provide power to the spacecraft.

Once the satellite is in orbital position, stationkeeping will be performed by XIPS(TM), a xenon ion propulsion system championed by HSC in conjunction with Hughes Electron Dynamics Inc. XIPS is an attractive alternative to chemical bipropellant systems, for it allows for a reduction of fuel of up to 90 percent. This highly efficient system has been deployed on 11 Hughes satellites to date.

HSC is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, having built nearly 40 percent of those in operation. It also is a major supplier of spacecraft and equipment to the U.S. government, and a builder of weather satellites for the United States and Japan.

PanAmSat Corp., based in Greenwich, Conn., is a leading provider of global video and data broadcasting services via satellite. The company builds, owns and operates networks that deliver entertainment and information to cable television systems, TV broadcast affiliates, direct-to-home TV operators, Internet service providers, telecommunications companies and corporations. With 21 spacecraft in orbit today, PanAmSat has the world's largest commercial geostationary satellite network. The company will expand its global fleet to 24 spacecraft by mid-2001.