PAS-10 to be 21^ST in PanAmSat Fleet

With the 2001 launch of PAS-10, a new international satellite built by Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc. (formerly Hughes Space and Communications Company) for PanAmSat Corporation, the PanAmSat fleet will expand to 21, with plans for a 22nd also to launch in 2001. By the end of 2001, PanAmSat will have more than 900 transponders providing satellite-based video and data broadcasting services.

Stowed (left); In Orbit (right)

PanAmSat ordered PAS-10 in Sept. 1999. A Boeing 601HP satellite, PAS-10 carries a total of 48 transponders, 24 in C-band and 24 in Ku-band. The satellite was launched on a Proton rocket in May 2001. PAS-10 is an international satellite that will serve as the replacement for PAS 4, a 601 that was launched on Aug. 3, 1995 and is positioned at 68.5 degrees East longitude. The Boeing 601 satellites are three-axis, body-stabilized models. The series was introduced in 1987, and a high-power "HP" version debuted in 1994.

PAS-10 features such innovations as dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells, built by Spectrolab, with the ability to convert nearly 22% of the sun's rays into electrical power; and XIPS, a xenon ion propulsion system built by Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices (formerly Hughes Electron Dynamics) that is 10 times more efficient than conventional bipropellant systems. With XIPS, a 90% reduction of propellant mass is possible, enabling the customer to opt for more payload, reduced launch costs, longer satellite life, or any combination of the above.

PanAmSat Corporation (NASDAQ:SPOT), 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.