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54-398: On August 1, 2001, JSAT Corporation announced an equal share joint venture with PanAmSat , called Horizons Satellite . On September 4, 2001, it ordered from Boeing its first satellite, Horizons-1 / Galaxy 13 . It was a 4 t (4.4 tons) spacecraft with 24 C band and 24 K u band transponders . It had a 10 kW power generation capacity and 15 years of expected life. On

108-459: A Hughes lawyer claimed they had the right to set up an "executive committee" to take over the running of the HHMI and its Hughes Aircraft subsidiary. The Attorney General of Delaware Richard R. Wier challenged this and filed suit in 1978. Charles M. Oberly continued the action when he became attorney general in 1983. Oberly stated he wished to see an independent board of trustees to ensure both that

162-494: A list in April 1984. In January 1985 the new board of trustees of the HHMI announced they would sell Hughes Aircraft either by private sale or public stock offering. On June 5, 1985, General Motors was announced as the winner of a secretive five-month sealed-bid auction. Other bidders included Ford Motor Company and Boeing . The purchase was completed on December 20, 1985, for an estimated $ 5.2 billion, $ 2.7 billion in cash and

216-579: A small satellite based on the STAR-2 platform, Horizons-2 , for the PanAmSat licensed orbital slot at 74°West. It would carry 20 Ku band transponders, generate 3.5 kW of power, weight around 2.3 t (2.5 tons) and was expected to be launched in 2007. The same year PanAmSat was taken over of by Intelsat , but it had no negative impact on the Horizons joint venture. On October 3, 2005, JSAT ordered

270-497: A small satellite based on the STAR-2 platform, Horizons-2, for the PanAmSat licensed orbital slot at 74°West. It would carry 20 Ku band transponders, generate 3.5 kW of power, weight around 2.3 t (2.5 tons) and was expected to be launched in 2007. The August 2005 take over of PanAmSat by Intelsat , did not diminished the relationship and, in fact, strengthened the alliance. On December 21, 2007, Horizons Satellite used an Ariane 5 rocket to launch Horizons-2. And, outside of

324-477: A subcontractor. Hughes attempted to mold it into a major military aircraft manufacturer during World War II . However, its early military projects ended in failure, with millions of dollars in U.S. government funds expended but only three aircraft actually built, resulting in a highly publicized U.S. Senate investigation into alleged mismanagement. The U.S. military consequently hesitated to award new aircraft contracts to Hughes Aircraft, prompting new management in

378-515: A third A2100-based satellite from LM, JCSAT-11 . It would also have a C band and K u band payload, and would be launched in 2007 to act as a backup for the whole JSAT fleet. During 2006, JSAT successfully launched two satellites. On April 12, 2006 a Zenit-3SL successfully orbited JCSAT-9 from a platform on the Pacific Ocean. JSAT had leased some transponders to NTT DoCoMo to be used as N-STAR d. Once in its 132° East orbital position, it

432-589: A third satellite from Hughes, using the HS-601 platform. In 1995, JCSAT obtained a license for international service, and thus became a regional operator. On August 29, 1995 an Atlas IIAS successfully launched JCSAT-3 into orbit. On the same August 29 but on an Ariane 44P , N-STAR a was successfully launched. On December, JCSAT ordered a fourth satellite, JCSAT-4 , with the same manufacturer and platform as JCSAT-3. N-STAR b, launched on February 5, 1996, also aboard an Ariane 44P. The satellite telephone service

486-599: A wholly owned subsidiary of SKY Perfect JSAT Group . At the SKY Perfect JSAT board meeting of August 6, 2008, it was resolved to merge SKY Perfect Communications, JSAT Corporation and Space Communications Corporation. This consolidated the Superbird fleet into JSAT and created the fifth satellite operator in the world at the time. The merge consolidated all companies under the SKY Perfect JSAT corporate entity, transferring all assets and operations and liquidating

540-559: The H-1 racer, D-2 , and the XF-11 . However the plant's hangars at Hughes Airport, location of present-day Playa Vista in the Westside of Los Angeles, California , were primarily used as a branch plant for the construction of other companies' designs. At the start of the war Hughes Aircraft had only four full-time employees—by the end the number was 80,000. During the war, the company

594-630: The Hughes H-4 Hercules aircraft, the atmospheric entry probe carried by the Galileo spacecraft , and the AIM-4 Falcon guided missile . Hughes Aircraft was founded to build Hughes' H-1 Racer world speed record aircraft, and it later modified other aircraft for his transcontinental and global circumnavigation speed record flights. The company relocated to Culver City, California , in 1940 and began manufacturing aircraft parts as

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648-832: The Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation , later to join Thompson Products to form the Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge based in Canoga Park , with Hughes leasing space for nuclear research programs (present day West Hills (Canoga Park)). The company became TRW in 1965, another aerospace company and a major competitor to Hughes Aircraft. In 1951 Hughes Aircraft Co. built a missile plant in Tucson, Arizona due to Howard Hughes' fear that his Culver City, California plant could be attacked. By

702-499: The Tomahawk Cruise Missile , Advanced Cruise Missile , Standard missile , Stinger missile , Phalanx Close-in weapon system , and Rolling Airframe Missile into Hughes' portfolio. In 1994 Hughes Electronics introduced DirecTV , the world's first high-powered DBS service. In 1995 Hughes Electronic's Hughes Space and Communications division became the largest supplier of commercial satellites. Also in 1995

756-680: The interceptor aircraft into the proper position for firing missiles. At the same time other teams were working with the newly formed US Air Force on air-to-air missiles, delivering the AIM-4 Falcon , then known as the F-98. The MA-1/Falcon package, with several upgrades, was the primary interceptor weapon system of the USAF for many years, lasting into the 1980s. Ramo and Wooldridge, having failed to reach an agreement with Howard Hughes regarding management problems, resigned in September 1953 and founded

810-478: The spin-stabilized HS-393 satellite bus . JCSAT-1, the first commercial Japanese communications satellite, was successfully launched aboard an Ariane-44LP on March 6, 1989. Its brother was launched aboard a Commercial Titan III on January 1, 1990. In 1992 N-Star was created as a joint venture between JSAT, NTT , NTT Communications and NTT DoCoMo for the supply of these latter two WIDESTAR satellite telephone and data packet service. JSAT would handle

864-457: The 100°E position, and thus both made a joint order in November 1998 for N-SAT-110 from Lockheed Martin . It was also called JCSAT-7 by JCSAT, and Superbird-5 by SCC. On December 2, an Ariane-44P successfully orbited JCSAT-5, which became JCSAT-1B. JSAT-6 was rechristened as JCSAT-4A after successfully being injected in its transfer orbit by an Atlas IIAS on February 16, 1999. In 2000,

918-539: The Aerospace Group continued to diversify and become massively profitable, and became a primary focus of the company. The company developed radar systems, electro-optical systems, the first working laser , aircraft computer systems, missile systems, ion-propulsion engines (for space travel), and many other advanced technologies. The 'Electronic Properties Information Center' (EPIC) of the United States

972-531: The Asia-Pacific region. It was expected to use the 169°East orbital slot and launch by the second half of 2018. This would be the fourth joint satellite, along with the other two Horizons Satellite spacecraft, Horizons-1 and Horizons-2 and the separately co-owned JCSAT-85/Intelsat 15. Since this would be an investment within Horizons Satellite, it would not be considered a capital expenditure of

1026-695: The Boeing Company purchased three units within Hughes Electronics Corp.: Hughes Space and Communications Co., Hughes Electron Dynamics , and Spectrolab Inc. , in addition to Hughes Electronics' interest in HRL, the company's primary research laboratory. The four joined Boeing Satellite Systems, a company subsidiary, later becoming the Satellite Development Center, part of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. In 2003

1080-550: The Horizons Satellite, JCSAT and Intelsat launched the joint satellite Intelsat 15 / JCSAT-85 on November 30, 2009 aboard a Zenit-3SLB . On November 4, 2015, JSAT and Intelsat made a joined statement that they would add a new member to their Horizons joint venture. The satellite, called Horizons 3e, would be based on the Intelsat Epic platform, featuring an optimized C band and high throughput K u band payload it would offer mobility and broadband connectivity services in

1134-584: The JSAT acquired the NTT DoCoMo interest on N-STAR a and N-STAR b, whom then leased them back. On April 20, 2004, JSAT ordered a second satellite from Lockheed, JCSAT-10 . Based on the A2100AX platform, it would have a C band and K u band payload and was expected to occupy the 128°East slot after its planned 2006 launch. On August 30, 2005, Orbital Sciences announced that Horizons Satellite had ordered

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1188-487: The JSAT payload, since it was to be positioned at the 85°E longitude. The almost 19-year streak of successful JCSAT launches was ended when a Proton-M / Briz-M failed to orbit JCSAT-11 on September 5, 2007. A damaged pyro firing cable on the interstage truss prevented the second stage from controlling its direction, and the rocket and its payload crashed into the Kazakhstan steppes. Being lucky in misfortune, JCSAT-11

1242-755: The Moon landings in Project Apollo . Hughes also built Pioneer Venus in 1978, which performed the first extensive radar mapping of Venus , and the Galileo probe that flew to Jupiter in the 1990s. The company built nearly 40 percent of commercial satellites in service worldwide in 2000. In 1947, Howard Hughes redirected Hughes Aircraft's efforts from airplanes to helicopters . The effort began in earnest in 1948, when helicopter manufacturer Kellett Aircraft Co. sold its latest design to Hughes for production. The XH-17 "Sky Crane" first flew in October 1952, but

1296-527: The Spruce Goose and the XF-11 photo reconnaissance plane project. They formed a special committee to investigate Hughes which culminated in a much-followed Senate investigation, one of the first to be televised to the public. Despite a highly critical committee report, Hughes was cleared. The company then expanded into the booming electronics field, eventually employing 3,300 Ph.D.s. Hughes hired Ira Eaker , Harold L. George , and Tex Thornton to run

1350-477: The United States with the Joint Surveillance System (JSS) AN/FYQ-93 including NORAD with Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) and provided defense systems and air traffic control systems around the world. These systems are massive and at its peak Ground Systems Group employed 15,000 people and generated revenue in excess of $ 1 billion per year. These systems included

1404-501: The absorbed companies legal entities. Since the founding of the original companies in 1985 to its absorption by SKY Perfect JSAT Group in 2008 JSAT had the following fleet: Hughes Space and Communications The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California , as a division of Hughes Tool Company . The company produced

1458-725: The astronauts on the last flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger , were Hughes alumni. Hughes Aircraft Ground Systems Group was located in Fullerton, California . The facility was 3 million square feet and included manufacturing, laboratories, offices, and a Munson road test course. It designed developed and produced the Air Defense Systems that replaced the Semi Automatic Defense Ground Environment (SAGE) in

1512-518: The company directly. Hughes retained a small cadre of engineers under his personal control as the Hughes Tool Company Aircraft Division , which initially operated from the same Culver City complex as Hughes Aircraft, despite being separately owned and managed. This entity subsequently became fully independent from Hughes Aircraft and changed its name to Hughes Helicopters . After Hughes' 1976 death, Hughes Aircraft

1566-664: The company name was changed to JSAT Corporation, and was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In March 2000, JSAT received the NTT Communications interest in the N-STAR a and N-STAR b satellites. N-STAR c was ordered by NTT DoCoMo from Lockheed Martin and Orbital Sciences Corporation . Orbital would supply the spacecraft and procure launch services and Lockheed would deliver

1620-737: The company was renamed as JSAT Corporation and was listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange . On September 1, 2008, the company was merged into the SKY Perfect JSAT Group . With the opening of the Japanese satellite communications market to private investment, Japan Communications Satellite Company (JCSAT) and Satellite Japan Corporation were founded in 1985. In June of the same year, JCSAT awarded an order to Hughes Space and Communications for two identical satellites, JCSAT-1 and JCSAT-2 , based on

1674-500: The company. By 1953, the company employed 17,000 and had $ 600,000,000 in government contracts. In 1948 Hughes created a new division of the company, the Aerospace Group . Two Hughes engineers, Simon Ramo and Dean Wooldridge , had new ideas on the packaging of electronics to make complete fire control systems . Their MA-1 system combined signals from the aircraft's radar with a digital computer to automatically guide

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1728-527: The division as Palomar Technologies. In 2008, Citicorp sold the bonder division to the current management team at Palomar Technologies. In 1997 GM transferred Delco Electronics to its Delphi Automotive Systems business. Later that year the assets of Hughes Aircraft were sold to Raytheon for $ 9.5 billion. The remaining companies remained under the Hughes Electronics name and within GM. In 2000,

1782-561: The end of that year, the U.S. Air Force had purchased the property and contracted Hughes (and subsequently Raytheon ) to operate the site as Air Force Plant 44 . Howard Hughes donated Hughes Aircraft to the newly formed Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in 1953 allegedly as a way of avoiding taxes on its huge income. The next year, Lawrence A. "Pat" Hyland was hired as vice president and general manager of Hughes Aircraft; he would ultimately become company president and CEO after Howard Hughes' death in 1976. Under Hyland's guidance,

1836-509: The following Ground Systems Group subsystems: Computer H5118, Consoles HMD-22 and HMD-44, Liquid Crystal Large Screen Displays, and Software that set the standard for software development based on science and engineering starting with the Combat Grande System. Ground Systems Group was known to push technology envelopes in the computers, displays, local area networks, human interfaces, and software in their systems. They also blazed

1890-484: The group purchased Magnavox Electronic Systems from the Carlyle Group . In 1996 Hughes Electronics and PanAmSat agree to merge their fixed satellite services into a new publicly held company, also called PanAmSat with Hughes Electronics as majority shareholder. In 1995, Hughes Aircraft sold its Technology Products Division (automated wire and die bonder) to an investor group led by Citicorp and incorporated

1944-467: The institute fulfilled its charitable mission and that it did not continue to operate as a tax shelter. In January 1984 Judge Grover C. Brown ruled that the Chancery Court should appoint the trustees because Hughes had not left a succession plan. Brown asked for both the executive committee and the attorney general's office to submit a list of recommendations that he could approve. Brown approved

1998-536: The late 1940s to instead pursue contracts for fire-control systems and guided missiles , which were new technologies. The company soon became a highly profitable industry leader in these fields. In a 1953 accounting maneuver designed to reduce his income tax liabilities, Howard Hughes donated most of Hughes Aircraft's stock and assets to a charity he created, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and subsequently ceased managing

2052-665: The parent companies. It has two satellites on-orbit Horizons-1 and Horizons-2 , with a third, Horizons-3e planned for 2018. JSAT Corporation JSAT Corporation ( JSAT ) was the first private Japanese satellite operator, which owned the JSAT satellites , as well as operated and partially owned the N-Star with NTT DoCoMo . Its origins can be traced to the funding of Japan Communications Satellite Company (JCSAT) and Satellite Japan Corporation in 1985. Both companies merged into Japan Satellite Systems Inc. in 1993. In 2000

2106-536: The path to very highly distributed human intensive systems. Hughes Space and Communications Group and the Hughes Space Systems Division built the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite , Syncom , in 1963 and followed by the first geosynchronous weather satellite, ATS-1, in 1966. Later that year their Surveyor 1 made the first soft landing on the Moon as part of the lead-up to

2160-574: The payload an act as main contractor. In April 2000, JSAT ordered JCSAT-8 from Boeing Satellite Development Center (which had acquired the HS-601 business from Hughes), to replace JCSAT-2 at the 154° East slot. N-SAT-110 was successfully launched October 6 by an Ariane 42L, at which point it was renamed JCSAT 110 and Superbird-D. Horizons Satellite was originally an equal share joint venture with PanAmSat . It ordered its first satellite, Horizons-1 / Galaxy 13 from Boeing in middle 2001. It

2214-472: The remaining parts of Hughes Electronics (DirecTV, DirecTV Latin America, PanAmSat, Hughes Network Systems) were purchased by News Corporation from GM and renamed The DirecTV Group . The wide range of science and technology developed by Hughes Aircraft never included medical applications because the company was owned by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). This restriction was imposed to avoid even

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2268-434: The rest in 50 million shares of GM Class H stock. On December 31, 1985, General Motors merged Hughes Aircraft with its Delco Electronics unit to form Hughes Electronics Corporation, an independent subsidiary. The group then consisted of: Delco Electronics Corporation and Hughes Aircraft Company. In August 1992 Hughes Aircraft completed its purchase of General Dynamics ' missile businesses for $ 450 million. This brought

2322-561: The same day of the satellite order, Boeing disclosed that it had received an parallel contract from PanAmSat, where the latter had exercised an existing option to launch Horizons-1 from its Sea Launch subsidiary. On October 22, 2002, JSAT and PanAmSat announced a joint sales agreement where JSAT's clients would gain access to PAS 2 and PAS 8 , while PanAmSat's would get JCSAT-2A and JCSAT-3 . A week later, on October 28, Horizons Satellites obtained permission to operate in Japan. Horizons-1

2376-502: The satellite side of business and NTT DoCoMo would operate the payload. Two identical satellites were ordered on 1992 from Space Systems Loral , N-STAR a and N-STAR b , for 1995 and 1996 on orbit delivery. They would be "switchboards in the sky" having S band , C band , K a band and K u band payload. On 1993, Japan Communications Satellite Company and Satellite Japan Corporation merged to form Japan Satellite Systems Inc. (JCSAT). That same year, JCSAT ordered JCSAT-3 ,

2430-549: Was a 4 t (4.4 tons) spacecraft with 24 C band and 24 K u band transponders . It had a 10 kW power generation capacity and 15 years of expected life. Horizons-1 was successfully launched on October 1, 2003 aboard a Zenit-3SL rocket from the Ocean Odyssey platform in the Pacific. An Ariane 44L successfully launched JCSAT-8 on March 28, 2002 from Guiana Space Centre . Once successfully deployed, it

2484-459: Was acquired by General Motors from HHMI in 1985 and was put under the umbrella of Hughes Electronics which became DirecTV , until GM sold its assets to Raytheon in 1997. During World War II the company designed and built several prototype aircraft at Hughes Airport . These included the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules , better known by the public's nickname for it, the Spruce Goose ,

2538-506: Was awarded contracts to build B-25 struts, centrifugal cannons, and machine gun feed chutes. Hughes Aircraft was one of many aerospace and defense companies which flourished in Southern California during and after World War II and was at one time the largest employer in the area. Yet, employment had dropped to 800 by 1947. By the summer of 1947 certain politicians had become concerned about Hughes' alleged mismanagement of

2592-673: Was commercially unsuccessful. In 1955, Howard Hughes split the helicopter production unit from the Hughes Aircraft Company, and reconstituted it with Hughes Tool Company, calling it Hughes Tool Company's Aircraft Division . The Aircraft Division had a focus on the production of light helicopters, mainly the Hughes 269 / 300 and the OH-6 Cayuse / Hughes 500 . Hughes left no will and following his death in 1976 there were numerous claims to his estate . A Hughes executive and

2646-541: Was hosted at the Hughes Culver City library in the 1970s. EPIC published the multi-volume Handbook of Electronic Materials as public documents. Nobel Laureates Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann had Hughes connections: Feynman would hold weekly seminars at Hughes Research Laboratories ; Gell-Mann shared an office with Malcolm Currie, later a chairman of the board and chief executive officer at Hughes Aircraft. Greg Jarvis and Ronald McNair , two of

2700-516: Was known as JCSAT 5A and N-STAR d . Then, on October 11, an Ariane 5 ECA launched JCSAT-10 along Syracuse-3B into a transfer orbit. Upon successful deployment at 128°East longitude, it was renamed JCSAT-3A. On May 1, 2007, Intelsat put the order for the Star-2 -based Intelsat-15 satellite to Orbital Sciences . In a business deal, five of its 22 K u band transponders were sold to JSAT. Under this arrangement, Intelsat-15 became JCSAT-85 for

2754-570: Was operational in March 1996. In June 1996, JCSAT ordered JCSAT-5 , another HS-601-based satellite, and the twin JCSAT-6 in December, from Hughes. On February 17, 1997 JCSAT-4 was renamed JCSAT-R after being put in orbit by an Atlas IIAS. By September 1997, both JCSAT and Space Communications Corporation (SCC) had requested the 110°East position. The Japanese government made both companies share

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2808-506: Was renamed JCSAT-2A. N-STAR c was successfully launched on July 5, 2002 along Stellat 5 on an Ariane 5G . JSAT switched satellite suppliers again and on April 30, 2003 awarded an order for JCSAT-9 to Lockheed Martin and its A2100AXS platform. A hybrid satellite with 20 C band, 20 K u band, and 1 S-band transponders, it was expected for launch in 2005 for the 132° East slot. In May 2003 JSAT leased some of JCSAT-9 transponders to NTT DoCoMo to be used as N-STAR d . In August 2003

2862-449: Was simply an on-orbit backup and thus it had no operational impact on the fleet. The same day of the launch failure, JSAT placed an order with Lockheed for an identical replacement, JCSAT-12 , for launch in 2009. On September 19, 2007, they closed a deal with Arianespace for a launch slot with an Ariane 5 for its launch. On December 21, 2007, Horizons Satellite used an Ariane 5 rocket to launch Horizons-2. In March 2008, SCC became

2916-432: Was successfully launched on October 1, 2003 aboard a Zenit-3SL rocket from the Ocean Odyssey platform in the Pacific. On June 27, 2005, JSAT and PanAmSat announced that they were renewing the partnership by ordering a second satellite, Horizons-2 . This K u band satellite would be positioned on the 74°West that belonged to PanAmSat. On August 30, 2005, Orbital Sciences announced that Horizons Satellite had ordered

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