• Ion propulsion
• Advanced solar cells

PanAmSat Corporation ordered its fifth satellite from Hughes Space and Communications Company in March 1995, an enhanced version of the Hughes HS 601 model designated HP for High Power. At beginning of life, it generates nearly 10 kilowatts. This version takes advantage of such advances as dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells, new battery technology and the first commercial use of a high-efficiency xenon ion propulsion system (XIPS). These features allow the Hughes-now Boeing-601HP to accommodate payloads twice as powerful as those of regular 601 models, while still offering lifetimes as long as 15 years.

In October 2000, Hughes Space and Communications Company became Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc.

PanAmSat became HSC's first customer to launch the new model, on Aug. 28, 1997, on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. PAS-5 provides satellite services in the Americas, with access to Europe, including direct-to-home television services in Mexico.

The Boeing 601 satellites are three-axis, body-stabilized models. The series was introduced in 1987 to meet anticipated requirements for high-power, multiple-payload satellites for such applications as direct-to-home television broadcasting, private business networks, and mobile communications. The spacecraft body is composed of two modules: the primary bus structure that carries all launch vehicle loads and contains the propulsion subsystem, bus electronics, and battery packs; and a honeycomb structure that houses communications equipment, electronics, and isothermal heat pipes. Reflectors, antenna feeds, and solar arrays are mounted directly to the payload module, and antenna configurations can be placed on three faces of the bus. Such a modular approach allows work to proceed in parallel on the two structures, thereby shortening the manufacturing schedule and test time.

PanAmSat Corporation is the world's leading commercial provider of satellite-based communications services. PanAmSat maintains two operations centers, one in Long Beach, Calif., and the other in Ellenwood, Ga., outside Atlanta. The operations center near Atlanta is also a full-service teleport along with PanAmSat facilities in Fillmore and Napa, Calif.; Castle Rock, Colo.; Homestead, Fla.; and Spring Creek, N.Y.

Boeing Satellite Systems is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial geostationary communications satellites. It is also a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and space exploration to the U.S. government, and builds weather satellites for the United States and Japan.

PAS-5 SPECIFICATIONS