Space Systems/Loral Satellites Reach 1,000 Years On Orbit

162 satellites successfully placed into service since 1960

Palo Alto - Mar 25, 2003
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, today announced that its satellites have collectively achieved more than 1,000 years - an entire millennium - of on-orbit service, marking a new milestone in experience and reliability.

SS/L satellites have covered the globe for decades, beginning with the 1960 launch of Courier, the world's first active repeater communications satellite. Since then, SS/L satellites have served mission critical commercial and government applications as diverse as international communications, satellite radio services, direct-to-home broadcast, satellite telephony, environment (weather) monitoring, Internet services, governmental communications, and air traffic control.

Altogether, 162 SS/L satellites, including seven launched in 2002, have been placed into service around the globe over the past 43 years. SS/L plans to launch eight to ten more in 2003.

"Our greatest strengths are our ability to create satellite designs that maximize our customers' business solutions and our drive for reliability," said C. Patrick DeWitt, president of SS/L.

"The ingenuity, dedication and competence of our employees help keep us in the forefront of our industry. Highly trained, they invent our leading-edge technology, build our reliable satellites and make sure our customers are satisfied."

SS/L continuously researches and refines the design of every component, system, and subsystem, from antennas to power systems, all with an eye to making each more efficient, more reliable and more robust. It is not uncommon for SS/L's satellites to last far beyond their required design life and continue to produce revenues for their owners.

SS/L's geostationary satellites continue to evolve to best meet the current and future needs of commercial and governmental satellite operators. SS/L offers its customers a wide range of power and capability through its space-proven 1300 satellite.

The power on SS/L-designed satellites can range from small satellites with 5 kilowatts to larger spacecraft as high as 25 kilowatts supporting as many as 150 transponders.

SS/L designs offer several technological differentiators, including re-configurable spot beams that deliver coverage to precisely defined areas, re-configurable capacity, and on-board switching.

The satellites are designed to achieve long useful orbital life, precise stationkeeping, excellent fuel economy and orbital stability by using advanced propulsion and stabilization systems.

TECH SPACE

Vanguard 1 Marks 45 Years in Space

Washington - Mar 17, 2003
Vanguard I, the world's longest orbiting man-made satellite, built by the Naval Research Laboratory and launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1958, will mark its 45th year in space on March 17. In the years following Vanguard's launch, the small satellite has made more than 178,061 revolutions of the earth and traveled over 5.1 billion nautical miles.