Defense, Space & Security

In March 1998, Hughes Space and Communications Company of El Segundo, Calif., was selected by PanAmSat Corporation of Greenwich, Conn., to build PAS-6B, a Hughes 601HP spacecraft model to provide direct-to-home television transmissions in South America. The satellite was launched Dec. 21, 1998.

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

As a Hughes 601HP, PAS-6B carries the latest technological advancements in satellites: dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells and a xenon ion propulsion system. The solar array on PAS-6B generates 8 kilowatts of power. The xenon ion propulsion system, "XIPS," is 10 times more efficient than the propulsion systems currently in use and enables the satellite to carry more payload.

Stowed (left); In Orbit (right)

The 7-kilowatt payload consists of 32 Ku-band transponders that are powered by a combination of 105-watt and 140-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers. Designed to provide a minimum of 15 years of service, PAS-6B is the fourth Hughes 601HP to serve PanAmSat.

The Hughes 601 and 601HP models-now Boeing 601 and 601HP models-are composed of two modules. The first contains the primary bus structure that carries all launch vehicle loads and contains the propulsion system, bus electronics, and battery packs. The second payload module is a structure of honeycomb shelves that hold the communications equipment, electronics, and isothermal heat pipes. Reflectors, antenna feeds, and solar arrays mount directly to the payload module, and antenna configurations can be placed on three faces of the bus. This modular approach allows work to proceed in parallel, thereby shortening the manufacturing schedule and test time.

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