Spaceway F2
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Spaceway-2 is part of
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's constellation of direct broadcast satellites. The satellite was launched via an
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rocket from
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,
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on 16 November 2005. Its operational position is in geosynchronous orbit above the equator at 99.2° West longitude. Spaceway-2 is a
Boeing 702 Boeing 702 is a communication satellite bus family designed and manufactured by the Boeing Satellite Development Center, and flown from the late-1990s into the 2020s. It covers satellites massing from to with power outputs from 3 to 18  kW ...
-model satellite with a 12-year
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. It is expected to support
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to
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
customers with its Ka-band communications payload. Although Spaceway-2 was originally built by Boeing to be used for
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via
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, it has been retrofitted to deliver HD local channels (
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,
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,
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, and
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) to numerous markets nationwide. On 19 April 2006, the satellite was delivered to DirecTV's control after successful on-orbit testing. Spaceway-2 immediately started broadcasting HD locals to DirecTV customers in eight more markets:
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;
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and
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;
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;
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;
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; and
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. Satellites named
T10 T10 may refer to: Aircraft * AmeriPlanes Mitchell Wing T-10, an American ultralight aircraft * Auster T.10, a British observation aircraft * Carmier Dupoy T.10, a French sport plane * Sukhoi T-10, a Soviet prototype jet fighter Anatomy * T ...
(launched in 2007) and T11 (launched in 2008), constructed by Boeing, also for use in high-definition television, are bent-pipe Ka-band satellites instead of regenerative satellites, and are being used to continue the expansion of DirecTV's HD services. Spaceway-2 was originally envisioned as a global Ka-band communications system. Boeing retrofitted the Spaceway-2 satellite for bent-pipe Ka-band communications for use in
high-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
and disabled the regenerative on-board processing of the original system that was to be used for the
Spaceway The Spaceway system was originally envisioned as a global Ka band, Ka-band communications system by Hughes Electronics. When the project to build the system was taken over by Hughes Network Systems, a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics, it was tran ...
broadband satellite communications. T11 is co-located with Spaceway-2 satellites in order to use the 500 MHz of unused spectrum for HDTV broadcasting. This spectrum was originally intended for the broadband internet capabilities of the two Spaceway satellites which were disabled by
Hughes Network Systems Hughes Network Systems, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar. It is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland and provides satellite internet service. HughesNet has over 1.3 million subscribers in the Americas. History Hughes Communication ...
at the request of DirecTV.


See also

*
Spaceway The Spaceway system was originally envisioned as a global Ka band, Ka-band communications system by Hughes Electronics. When the project to build the system was taken over by Hughes Network Systems, a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics, it was tran ...


References


External links


Arianespace Spaceway 2 Launch Info


Satellites using the BSS-702 bus Communications satellites in geostationary orbit DirecTV {{US-spacecraft-stub