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25-483: DirecTV contracted with Boeing in 2004 to build three identical 702 model satellites — DirecTV-10, 11 and 12 . DirecTV-11 was launched on March 19, 2008 and DirecTV-12 was launched on December 29, 2009. The satellites were purchased to significantly increase the number of national and local HDTV channels DirecTV offers. All satellites have since been renamed to the T-suffix. T10 transmits MPEG-4 encoded signals,

50-509: A dish, such as the AT-9 "Sidecar". These receivers also receive MPEG-2 channels and offer interactive services. T10 was co-located with the SPACEWAY-1 satellite until the latter was decommissioned in 2020. The SPACEWAY satellites were originally designed so that 500 MHz of spectrum would be used for simple one-way broadcasting and 500 MHz for a broadband 2-way internet service. At

75-493: A B-Band Converter (BBC). DirecTV supplies BBCs with all 5-LNB K u /K a -band dish systems. The satellite signal from T10 is downconverted at the dish to the frequency range of 250-750 MHz, called "K a -lo". At the receiver when necessary, the BBC in response to a control signal from the receiver blocks any original "K a -hi" signals between 1650-2150 MHz. Then up-converts the 250-750 MHz signals to this range which

100-461: A compression standard which is more efficient than MPEG-2 which DirecTV uses for standard definition and a small number of HD channels. The use of MPEG-4 compression allows the satellite to carry significantly more channels than it could using MPEG-2 compression. Receiving signals from DirecTV-10 requires an advanced receiver capable of decoding MPEG-4 signals, such as the H21 or HR21, and a 5-LNB K u /K

125-515: A post launch anomaly that has limited the capacity available in certain local markets. DirecTV believes that it can ameliorate this condition, but will need to discontinue commercial service from the satellite and relocate it slightly so that it is not within the cluster of its other operational satellites. Accordingly, DirecTV intends to move DirecTV 10 to the 102.6° position to conduct the restorative procedure. During this migration, DirecTV 10 will continue to provide service to subscribers. However, over

150-559: A traditional on-board liquid apogee engine . Beginning in 2012, Boeing began manifesting all-electric propulsion commsats on the 702SP XIPS propulsion bus for eventual location in geosynchronous orbit . These satellites were the first to be launched with the intent to fully position the satellites using electric propulsion, thus requiring 4–6 months following launch to ready the satellite for its communication mission, but at substantial reduction in launch mass and, therefore, launch cost . As of March 2014 , Boeing had sold four of

175-551: Is a Boeing model 702 satellite built by the Boeing Satellite Development Center . Its current name was adopted in 2017. This satellite is functionally identical to T10 and is co-located with SPACEWAY-2 at or very near 99.225°W. T11 had originally been scheduled for launch by Sea Launch in November, 2007. Following a launch failure at Sea Launch that resulted in damage to the facility,

200-517: 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 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) to 6,100 kg (13,400 lb) with power outputs from 3 to 18  kW and can carry up to approximately 100 high-power transponders . The baseline Boeing 702 is compatible with several orbital launch systems , including Atlas V , Ariane 5 , Delta IV , Falcon 9 , Proton , and

225-438: Is expected by current receivers. Because this frequency range conflicts with terrestrial broadcast frequencies, any off-the-air (OTA) diplexors must be placed at some point after the BBC. T10 uses 32 active and 12 spare K a -band Traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTA) to broadcast national programming and 55 active and 15 spare spot beam TWTAs for local television services. The satellite uses bent pipe communications. It

250-486: Is powered by a solar array spanning 48.1 meters that consists of ultra triple junction gallium arsenide solar cells. DirecTV reported in a press release on September 14, 2007 that in-orbit testing had uncovered problems with the satellite's spot beam transponders used to broadcast local HDTV channels: While testing of DIRECTV 10's capability continues, it appears that a portion of the anticipated spot-beam capability may not be fully available. The investigation to determine

275-482: The Sea Launch -operated Zenit 3SL . After the introduction of the original 702 in 1997, the platform has been continually updated. New members of the platform have been introduced through the years, which allowed the common systems and approaches to span the whole range of mass and power for geosynchronous orbit satellites. The family currently spans four different members: the 702HP for high-power applications,

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300-427: The "Satellite Strength" menu on their receiver. T11 will show up as 99(a) or 99(b) for High-Def receivers and 99(c) and 99(s) for High-Definition DVRs. T11 began broadcasting High-Definition channels to customers on July 31, 2008. Those first channels were MPEG-4 counterparts of the older MPEG-2 channels DirecTV originally carried in the 70-79 channel range as well as four east coast distant network channels. Since

325-483: The 702HP platform uses its bipropellant thrusters . The SES-9 , a 702HP model, launched aboard the Falcon 9 Flight 22 on 4 March 2016. Developed in 1997 for their launch customer Thuraya , it is a special version of the 702HP platform with a 12.25-meter deployable antenna, onboard digital signal processing and beamforming. It is a specialized platform for direct service of mobile users. In 2009 Boeing introduced

350-507: The 702HP-GEO for mobile-telephone services, the 702MP for medium-power requirements and the 702SP for small satellites. The high-power 702 platform was originally announced in October 1998. With the 2009 introduction of the 702MP "mid-power version", the legacy Boeing 702 platform, which had been continuously evolved, was designated the Boeing 702HP for "high-power". According to Moog-ISP ,

375-439: The 702MP platform uses both its bipropellant thrusters and LEROS liquid apogee engine . Intelsat is the lead customer for the 702MP. Boeing built Intelsat 21 , Intelsat 22 , Intelsat 27 and Intelsat 29e (the first EpicNG) satellites based on the platform. In May 2013, Intelsat ordered an additional four EpicNG satellites from Boeing. The first of this new order will be Intelsat 33e . In July 2014, Boeing announced

400-429: The 702MP platform, a mid-power solution based on the high-power 702HP platform. The 702MP provides the high-capability features inherent in the flight-proven Boeing 702HP satellite model, but with a substantially updated satellite bus structure and simplified propulsion system. The 702MP was designed for satellites in the middle-level power ranges, supporting payloads ranging from 6 to 12 kilowatts. According to Moog-ISP ,

425-437: The 702SP satellites to Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) of Hong Kong and Mexico's SatMex , with the first two commsats planned for a paired launch in early 2015. In November 2014, Boeing released information that two of the 702SP satellites they have built— ABS-3A and Eutelsat 115 West B —had completed manufacture and had been stacked conjoined as they prepared for a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle in early 2015. This

450-470: The cause of the reduced capability and potential means to mitigate its effect is on-going. However, we currently believe our planned expansion of HD local programming as previously announced will not be materially affected. According to a May 7, 2010 FCC filing: "DirecTV 10 is currently operating at the 102.815° orbital location. As DirecTV has previously informed the Commission, that satellite suffered

475-622: The course of this migration, DirecTV intends to transfer all traffic from DirecTV 10 to DirecTV-12 , DirecTV's newest satellite which has just completed in-orbit testing and is expected to arrive at the nominal 103° location on or about May 11, 2010. At the conclusion of the STA period, the satellite will be in a position for the corrective procedure to be attempted." The fixes were completed in mid June and T10 (then known as DirecTV-10) completed its drift back to its assigned location on June 24, 2010. DirecTV-11 T11 , formerly known as DirecTV-11,

500-589: The expected launch date was changed to March 19, 2008. Launch occurred at 22:47:59 UTC on March 19, 2008, and the spacecraft separated from the carrier rocket 61 minutes later, following a successful ascent. Boeing handed over the T11 satellite to DirecTV on Monday, July 21, 2008, according to a press release on the Boeing website. This means that the satellite is "parked" at or extremely close to its final location of 99.225ºW. Customers with High-Definition receivers or High-Definition DVRs can see new satellite readings under

525-491: The initial roll out of channels in July, DirecTV has added over 40 more HD channels to T11. These channels included converting some part-time regional sports networks to full-time HD channels as well as new national HD channels like ABC Family and Comedy Central , some premium channels, and HD pay-per-view. T11 now broadcasts over 50 HD channels, bringing DirecTV's total HD channel count over 130. Boeing 702 Boeing 702

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550-541: The order of a ninth Intelsat 702MP order, the EpicNG Intelsat 35e . On January 15, 2015, the SatNews Publishers disclosed Boeing's second 702MP customer. New York Broadband LLC would order an L-band satellite Silkwave 1 to be fully leased to CMMB Vision of Hong Kong . The satellite is expected to enter service in 2018 in the 105° east orbital slot to replace AsiaStar . By 2005, Boeing

575-416: The request of DirecTV, Boeing disabled the on-board processing payload designed to deliver enhanced connectivity for the 2-way internet service. T10 and T11 use this 500 MHz of spectrum for yet more simple one-way broadcast HDTV. Since the 500 MHz frequency block (18.3-18.8 GHz) used by T10 and T11 on downlink were not intended for DBS broadcasting, existing equipment cannot receive them without

600-527: Was offering a Xenon Electrostatic ion thruster System (XIPS) option for the 702 satellite system. XIPS is 10 times more efficient than conventional liquid-fuel systems . On a XIPS equipped 702 satellite, four 25 cm (9.8 in) thrusters provide economical station keeping, needing only 5 kg (11 lb) of fuel per year, "a fraction of what bipropellant or arcjet systems consume". An XIPS-equipped satellite can be used for final orbit insertion , conserving even more payload mass, as compared to using

625-671: Was to be Boeing's first conjoined launch of two commsats. The two commsats were launched aboard a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 3:50AM UTC on 2 March 2015 (10:50PM EST on 1 March 2015). In February 2014, SES announced that it had ordered a Boeing 702SP-based sat for SES-15. In March 2014, Boeing disclosed an early-2013 order by an unnamed U.S. government agency for three 702SP spacecraft. In June 2015, Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) ordered an additional 702SP, ABS-8, planned to be launched by late 2017, in part because they were well satisfied with performance of ABS-3A, even before it reached its operative orbit. When launched on

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