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Article: DirecTV 5 Will Replace Damaged Satellite.
- Article from:
- Satellite News
- Article date:
- May 13, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Access Intelligence, LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The DirecTV 5 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral (SSL), lifted into orbit May 7. The bird will provide additional capacity needed to expand the company's offering of local TV channels and to upgrade the capability offered by the impaired DirecTV 6 satellite.
DirecTV 6 has been operating at a reduced power level because of solar panel problems, said Robert Mercer, DirecTV's senior manager of public relations. As a result, DirecTV 5 has undergone "exhaustive testing" to ensure it operates properly during its planned 12-year life span, he added.
A Russian-built Proton rocket marketed by International Launch Services (ILS) lifted off from the Baikonur ...