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TS News - Hughes Racks Up 850 Years In Space




TELE-satellite News, 3 March 1997

Hughes Racks Up 850 Years In Space
  EL SEGUNDO, California, USA, 97/03/03 (TS) -- Hughes Space and
Communications has released an impressive figure regarding the length of
time their satellites have served - 850 years. That's the total in service
time for all of the satellites the company has built. The milestone will be
reached in about a month, said the company, which means the current total
stands at around 844 years.

  Right now, 67 Hughes satellites are in service but the company has built
119 since it started in the business with Early Bird in 1965.  This number
excludes government spacecraft for weather, communications, space
exploration and defense. The company boasted, "Hughes' two nearest
competitors, also U.S. satellite builders, can each boast only 240-300
years in orbit for their commercial communications spacecraft.  Even when
adding their government satellites, they cannot come close to Hughes' total
for commercial satellites alone."

  It's no surprise that this announcement comes from Hughes, the company
builds the HS-601 satellite, the world's most popular, and the HS-376
satellite, the second most popular in the world. This year eleven Hughes
satellites will be launched by rockets at sites in Cape Canaveral, Florida,
USA; Kourou, French Guiana; and Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

(c)TELE-satellit 1997. All rights reserved.


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