PanAmSat's Galaxy 14 Roars into Orbit

PanAmSat's new Galaxy 14 satellite was successfully launched by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.


Galaxy 14, the 24th satellite in PanAmSat's fleet, is to be co-located with Galaxy 12 at 125 degrees west longitude, enable PanAmSat to have two in-orbit spares for its U.S. fleet. Although designated a back-up satellite, the all C-band spacecraft is designed to deliver digital video programming, high-definition television (HDTV), VOD and IPTV service throughout the continental U.S.


Galaxy 14 will also be an additional satellite supporting PanAmSat's "Power of Five" antenna program, which provides qualified cable operators with simultaneous access to five Galaxy neighborhood satellites.


The satellite was built and custom-designed for PanAmSat by Orbital Sciences Corporation. Galaxy 14 is a 1790-kilogram Star 2 Bus model satellite with 24, 36-MHz C-band transponders. It is the second in a series of three C-band satellites being constructed by Orbital Sciences for PanAmSat. The satellite will put out more than double the power of its predecessors.
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