2009 Satellite Schedule

[nelson61]

Did a review to see what we can expect to see for satellite activity during the rest of the year.

1: E5 will be moving to 148W and probably be active there sometime in June It's anybody's guess what it will be doing other than being a placeholder to keep the permit active ( the wobble and fuel problem). But, it will have good coverage of a large portion of Conus and could provide significant expansion of service if they can keep it going.

2: Expect to see E1 to arrive at 77W sometime in July-August (after E5 takes over the 148W service). It will supplement E8 in providing Conus coverage for the US. Probably will see it used to add more locals (HD) in the entire Conus area. Twenty four transponders decicated to US service and eight to Mexico. E4 presenty at 77W will likey be "deorbited" - raised above geostationary and abandoned (that's a nice oxymoron).

3: Ninmiq 5 will probably launch in August/September to 72.5 and could be expected to be active in October freeing up E6 for use elsewhere - perhaps at 61.5W or maybe 148W.

4; And although not shown on launch schedules, the first quarter 2009 10K for Dish shows that they expect E14 to launch in "late" 2009. That will likely make E7 a spare and it also could be moved to either 61.5W or 148W.

All in all, a very busy year.

 

[rocatman]

Recognize that E-1 coverage at 77 W is limited to 16 odd numbered TPs. It is also fairly clear that Nimiq 5 scheduled launch date is sometime in September. I am still wondering if it is like Ciel-2 at 129 W where Dish will definitely get 16 TPs at 72.7 W but might get all 32 TPs if no Canadian company is interested in them. I would also be surprised if E-14 gets launched in 2009, more likely early 2010. Recently an IntelSat satellite scheduled to launch by SeaLaunch in early 2010 was moved to another launch vehicle so there is probably a launch slot there for E-14. At 119 W, Dish currently uses only 5 TPs for spotbeams with the E-7 satellite and Dish can get quite a few spotbeams using only those 5 TPs since E-7 is an older satellite with limited and underused spotbeam capability. I have to believe E-14 will have more spotbeam capability than just for those 5 TPs but for it to be used, Dish will have to start converting some of the Western Arc national SD channels to MPEG-4 perhaps starting with some of the premium channels. The other option is for Dish to just wait until they can get a "reverse DBS" satellite built and on-orbit for the Western Arc.

 

[nelson61]

Recognize that E-1 coverage at 77 W is limited to 16 odd numbered TPs.

Agreed. And the reason they need both E1 and E8 to provide full coverage at 77W.

 

[kstuart]

I assume that the most likely use for E*6 will be to replace E*3.

 

[rocatman]

I assume that the most likely use for E*6 will be to replace E*3.

I would say augment until the E-15 satellite is launched to that slot. Of course if Dish were able to lease all 32 TPs at 72.7 W on Nimiq 5, they would have extra Eastern Arc CONUS TPs and I would think E-6 would go elsewhere, probably to 148 W.

 

[HDRoberts]

At 119 W, Dish currently uses only 5 TPs for spotbeams with the E-7 satellite and Dish can get quite a few spotbeams using only those 5 TPs since E-7 is an older satellite with limited and underused spotbeam capability. I have to believe E-14 will have more spotbeam capability than just for those 5 TPs but for it to be used, Dish will have to start converting some of the Western Arc national SD channels to MPEG-4 perhaps starting with some of the premium channels. The other option is for Dish to just wait until they can get a "reverse DBS" satellite built and on-orbit for the Western Arc.

I'm not sure Dish will want to devote more 119 TP space spots, as they are spread thin as it is, but I'm sure it will make ample use of the 5 that are set aside.

Reverse DBS is great for the future, but I still have a few issues. I imagine it will require a complete LNB swap (maybe dishes, too). Also, I don't know if their current MPEG-4 receivers can handle it.

 

[digiblur]

I'm not sure Dish will want to devote more 119 TP space spots, as they are spread thin as it is, but I'm sure it will make ample use of the 5 that are set aside.

Reverse DBS is great for the future, but I still have a few issues. I imagine it will require a complete LNB swap (maybe dishes, too). Also, I don't know if their current MPEG-4 receivers can handle it.

I think what was meant about the E-7's underused spotbeam capability was it is only configured for Gilbert and Cheyenne uplinks. So the uplink frequencies can only be used twice. Compare that with E10 that is configured for 6 uplink facilities to reuse the uplink frequencies 6 times.