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| XIPS CHAMBER -- Gordie Lange, assistant division manager and chief engineer
for Hughes Electron Dynamics Division, stands before the company's newest
addition: a 40-foot-long thermal vacuum chamber which will be used for
qualification and lifetime testing of the xenon ion propulsion system,
XIPS. In his hands is a 13-centimeter XIPS thruster, one of two models
commercially available. This revolutionary propulsion system makes it
possible to reduce propellant onboard a satellite by as much as 90 percent.
XIPS is used on the newest satellite to be offered by sister company,
Hughes Space and Communications Company, the HS 702, and is an option on
the HS 601HP. Hughes launched the first commercial XIPS system on Aug.
27, 1997, aboard PanAmSat Corporation's PAS-5 satellite.
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HUGHES TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND SPACE COMPANY Electron Dynamics Division Public Relations Office P.O. Box 92919 (S10/S323) Los Angeles, CA 90009 (310) 364-6363 www.hughespace.com |
98PR-00475 c |