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Proton
Successfully Launches DirecTV 5
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A
Proton K/DM3 successfully launched DirecTV 5 from Baikonur
Cosmodrome, Complex 81, pad 24, at 1700 UTC on May 7. The
satellite will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 119°W.
 The
3641 kg (8025 lbm) satellite was manufactured by Space Systems /
Loral using the LS 1300 bus. The satellite carries 32 Ku-band
transponders which will be used to broadcast 225 digital television
signals to subscribers in the United States. The satellite has an
expected life of 12 years.
DirecTV 5 was
originally built as Tempo 1, but just prior to launch,
TeleCommunications Satellite, Inc (TCI), and its partner PrimeStar,
lost the orbital slot to MCI in an auction for a
DBS FCC license, with MCI bidding US$682.5 million for the 110°W slot.
Despite the loss of license, Tempo Satellite, Inc. (TSat) launched
Tempo 2 on March 8, 1997, and parked the unused satellite, in the
118.8°W orbital slot. In 1999 DirecTV purchased both Tempo
satellites, as part of its purchase of PrimeStar. Meanwhile,
in 1998 TCI was acquired by AT&T. In August 2000, DirecTV
renamed Tempo 2 to DirecTV 6, and Tempo 1 to DirecTV 5.
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