Stationed at 101.2 deg W. DirecTV, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hughes Communications and offers commercial satellite television service to the US. The orbital part of the system consists of 3 Hughes-built geosynchronous satellites. Broadcast services began in mid-1994. Competitors include the similar Primestar and USSB services, as well as older C-band satellite services and cable TV companies. Spacecraft: DirecTV uses the Hughes HS-601 spacecraft design.3-Axis stabilised, zero momentum biased control system. Two solar arrays (4 panels each side) span 31 meters and generate 4.3 kW power. Payload: The 2.5 m diameter graphite transmit reflector performs beam shaping.16 x 120 watt Ka-Band (12.2 - 12.7 GHz) transponders with 48-53 dBw EIRP and 24 MHz bandwidth. Power is higher in areas with heavy rain. The high power combined with Reed Solomon error correction coding allow the use of small 18 inch antennas by customers.
Financial/Operational:
FCC approved Direct Broadcast Satellites in 1986. By 1997 DirecTV had 2.6 million of 5.0 million US direct broadcast television subscribers. Direct Broadcast Satellites cost $ 175 million each and have 150 video channels. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 101 deg W in 1994-1999; 110 deg W in 1999-2000 As of 6 September 2001 located at 109.78 deg W drifting at 0.004 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 72.51W drifting at 0.011W degrees per day.

Commercial TV broadcast. Stationed at 100.79 deg W. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with MRS trajectory option. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 101 deg W in 1994-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 100.81 deg W drifting at 0.010 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 91.17W drifting at 0.006W degrees per day.

Commercial TV. Stationed at 101.0 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 101 deg W in 1995-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 100.90 deg W drifting at 0.012 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 82.00W drifting at 0.004W degrees per day.

Second successful Zenit-3SL flight from the Odyssey launch platform in the Pacific Ocean at 154 deg W, 0 deg N. First flight to carry a commercial payload. The satellite used its R-4D apogee engine to enter geostationary orbit at 81.6 deg W. Finally stationed at 101 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 81 deg W in 1999. As of 5 September 2001 located at 101.19 deg W drifting at 0.004 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 100.87W drifting at 0.007W degrees per day.

The DirecTV-4S television broadcasting satellite was placed by the Ariane 44LP booster into a geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite had a dry mass of 2100 kg and a launch mass of 4300 kg. The satellite was to provide more than 300 local TV channels to 41 metropolitan communities through its 11 C-band transponders after parking over 101-W longitude. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 101.14W drifting at 0.005W degrees per day.

Direct Broadcasting satellite. Launch delayed from October 2000, February, May 21 and October19, 2001, as the user and launch provider moved the payload from Proton to Atlas 2AS and then back again to Proton. The DM3 upper stage made two burns to put the DirecTV satellite in a 6568 x 35809 km x 17.7 deg transfer orbit. The Loral FS-1300 class satellite used its R-4D apogee engine to reach geostationary orbit at 129 W by May 19. The DirecTV satellite broadcasting company was a subsidiary of GM/Hughes. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 110.11W drifting at 0.004W degrees per day.

Delayed from February 29, May 2. Transferred from Ariane 5 under launch backup agreement. Record single payload to geosynchronous transfer orbit. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 119.04W drifting at 0.000E degrees per day.

Heaviest single payload to geosynchronous transfer orbit to that date. Carried 48 high-frequency Ka-band transponders for data transmission and television broadcasting. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 102.80W drifting at 0.005W degrees per day.

Provided United States direct-television broadcast coverage from the 101 degrees West longitude orbital slot. The satellite carried 16 high-power transponders for high-quality national digital video services. Purchased in October 2003 together with DirecTV-9S for a total price of $220 million for both. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 100.77W drifting at 0.002W degrees per day.

Heaviest total commercial GTO payload to that date. Qualification flight for the Ariane 5 EC-A version. Launch delayed from June 25 due to launch vehicle problems. Spaceway 2 launch delayed from April for problems with the satellite. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 99.24W drifting at 0.010W degrees per day.

Addition to DirecTV's direct broadcast television constellation. Carried 52 high-power Ku-band transponders and 2 Ka-band transponders. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 101.13W drifting at 0.009W degrees per day.

First launch of a pair of satellites, DirecTV 10 and 11, that will beam HDTV programs to 500 local markets from the company's primary orbital slot at 101 degrees west longitude. Acquisition and launch cost of $300 million per satellite; one ground spare also built.