9S Goes to Graveyard

[nelson61]

Pursuant to Section 25.120 of the Commission's rules,1 DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC("DIRECTV") herein requests Special Temporary Authority ("STA"), beginning on or aboutSeptember 1, 2026 and lasting for a period of 30 days, to de-orbit the DIRECTV D9S satellite(Call Sign S2669) from its current location at the nominal 101º W.L. orbital location and toperform telemetry, tracking, and command ("TT&C") functions with DIRECTV D9S during thismaneuver.

9S was a non-operating backup that has reached end of life and will be deorbited (moved to a higher altitude) for permanent disposal.

 

[Tom Speer]

Pursuant to Section 25.120 of the Commission's rules,1 DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC("DIRECTV") herein requests Special Temporary Authority ("STA"), beginning on or aboutSeptember 1, 2026 and lasting for a period of 30 days, to de-orbit the DIRECTV D9S satellite(Call Sign S2669) from its current location at the nominal 101º W.L. orbital location and toperform telemetry, tracking, and command ("TT&C") functions with DIRECTV D9S during thismaneuver.

9S was a non-operating backup that has reached end of life and will be deorbited (moved to a higher altitude) for permanent disposal.

No surprise there. RIP D9S.

 

[Inclined Orbit]

DirecTV canceled all new/replacement satellite orders when ATT took over. Wonder how long the rest of the fleet has before the inevitable?

 

[Jimbo]

DirecTV canceled all new/replacement satellite orders when ATT took over. Wonder how long the rest of the fleet has before the inevitable?

It was figured they would last till 2030 at least, it varies according to the time it went into orbit.

I think it was determined that 1 may last till 2034 or there abouts, others not as long.

 

[Inclined Orbit]

It was figured they would last till 2030 at least, it varies according to the time it went into orbit.

I think it was determined that 1 may last till 2034 or there abouts, others not as long.

I don't remember if any had XIPS. If so I wouldn't count on a full lifespan. 15yrs ago ATTs 5yr plan was to build out 5G to the last mile, move every DirecTV customer to broadband delivery of DirecTV then pull the plug on satellites. That didn't work out so well. But I had a conversation with DirecTV a few weeks ago and that is still a goal and the reason they are pushing broadband streaming over installing a new dish wherever they can.

 

[telstar_1]

Pursuant to Section 25.120 of the Commission's rules,1 DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC("DIRECTV") herein requests Special Temporary Authority ("STA"), beginning on or aboutSeptember 1, 2026 and lasting for a period of 30 days, to de-orbit the DIRECTV D9S satellite(Call Sign S2669) from its current location at the nominal 101º W.L. orbital location and toperform telemetry, tracking, and command ("TT&C") functions with DIRECTV D9S during thismaneuver.

9S was a non-operating backup that has reached end of life and will be deorbited (moved to a higher altitude) for permanent disposal.

That just makes it go away?

 

[Inclined Orbit]

That just makes it go away?

A higher orbit would make it drift slower than the earths rotation and move above and over the geosynchronous orbital slots. Basically space junk but if the solar panels continue to point at the sun and make power and the telemetry receiver is still working they can still turn stuff on and off. Just no station keeping as it wanders across the sky.

 

[Jimbo]

I don't remember if any had XIPS. If so I wouldn't count on a full lifespan. 15yrs ago ATTs 5yr plan was to build out 5G to the last mile, move every DirecTV customer to broadband delivery of DirecTV then pull the plug on satellites. That didn't work out so well. But I had a conversation with DirecTV a few weeks ago and that is still a goal and the reason they are pushing broadband streaming over installing a new dish wherever they can.

I have Never heard that, that was the ATT plan back then ... From those here Or at Work ...

 

[Inclined Orbit]

I have Never heard that, that was the ATT plan back then ... From those here Or at Work ...

That was an ATT advertised plan that was published in various industry magazines and papers. You can search for the plan from the 2013/2014 era.

 

[Tom Speer]

I have Never heard that, that was the ATT plan back then ... From those here Or at Work ...

I have been aware of that plan. They announced that they would never launch another satellite. There are no more backups. The next satellite to go will probably be one of the spot beam satellites that provide local stations. That would at least force a hybrid satellite/streaming solution. But tthe existing satellites have plenty of life in them, barring an unforeseen failure.

 

[slow_poke_pete]

I have Never heard that, that was the ATT plan back then ... From those here Or at Work ...

AT&T will not launch any more satellites for DirecTV: is the writing on the wall for satellite TV?

Global consulting and research firm specialising in telecoms, media and digital services.

www.analysysmason.com

i think this is it i could be wrong though.

 

[Jimbo]

AT&T will not launch any more satellites for DirecTV: is the writing on the wall for satellite TV?

Global consulting and research firm specialising in telecoms, media and digital services.

www.analysysmason.com

i think this is it i could be wrong though.

I knew about them not launching more Sats back then ... it was the other stuff I hadn't heard.

"15 yrs ago ATTs 5yr plan was to build out 5G to the last mile, move every DirecTV customer to broadband delivery of DirecTV then pull the plug on satellites."

 

[slow_poke_pete]

I knew about them not launching more Sats back then ... it was the other stuff I hadn't heard.

"15 yrs ago ATTs 5yr plan was to build out 5G to the last mile, move every DirecTV customer to broadband delivery of DirecTV then pull the plug on satellites."

I heard so many different reasons why they wanted dtv who really knows!!! All i know is it was one hell of a tv experience

 

[Inclined Orbit]

I heard so many different reasons why they wanted dtv who really knows!!! All i know is it was one hell of a tv experience

As an employee back then the thought was ATT primarily wanted DirecTVs content providers and the contracts. We at DirecTV had put on several "dog and pony shows" for ATT in years prior to the sale to show the companies capabilities so they had been looking at us for some time. The company had been bought and sold a couple of times already so another sale was not unexpected but ATT had a history of buying companies and running them into the ground or sucking out what they could and leaving nothing behind. I was not worried too much as I already had retirement plans in place before the sale and I got out before ATT stuck their fingers in very deep. I feel real bad for the friends and colleagues that stayed and many of their positions were eliminated starting about 6mo after ATT took over.

In its heyday DirecTV was #1 in the satellite business, no question. We had the highest technology, best service availability to the customer, owned most of our satellites and had fantastic employees with much of the engineering group being ex Hughes Aircraft aerospace employees who transferred over when Hughes owned DirecTV. Its embarrassing to see what's left now, its just a fraction of what it once was.

 

["MysteryMan"]

As I have stated many times. AT&T, the company that turns gold into lead.

 

[Jimbo]

As an employee back then the thought was ATT primarily wanted DirecTVs content providers and the contracts. We at DirecTV had put on several "dog and pony shows" for ATT in years prior to the sale to show the companies capabilities so they had been looking at us for some time. The company had been bought and sold a couple of times already so another sale was not unexpected but ATT had a history of buying companies and running them into the ground or sucking out what they could and leaving nothing behind. I was not worried too much as I already had retirement plans in place before the sale and I got out before ATT stuck their fingers in very deep. I feel real bad for the friends and colleagues that stayed and many of their positions were eliminated starting about 6mo after ATT took over.

In its heyday DirecTV was #1 in the satellite business, no question. We had the highest technology, best service availability to the customer, owned most of our satellites and had fantastic employees with much of the engineering group being ex Hughes Aircraft aerospace employees who transferred over when Hughes owned DirecTV. Its embarrassing to see what's left now, its just a fraction of what it once was.

I was there thru all of that, I left in 2020 or was it 21 ...