spacetoday.net: Cablevision to buy five Lockheed satellites

Posted: Thu, Nov 25, 2004, 9:37 AM ET (1437 GMT)
Lockheed Martin A2100 satellite illustration

Cablevision, in a bid to expand its foothold in the satellite TV market, announced this week that it plans to buy five Lockheed Martin satellites. In a filing with the SEC on Wednesday, Cablevision said its satellite TV subsidiary, Rainbow DBS, has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to purchase five Ka-band satellites. The satellites will be placed in orbital locations between 62 and 129 degrees west to permit the company to provide full coverage of the US and to expand its channel lineup. The five satellites will cost Cablevision $740 million, although the company cautioned that it only has enough money currently allocated to pay for the first year's work — $48 million — and has not identified the source of the remaining funding. The satellites are scheduled to be completed over a period of between 38 and 50 months, but no launch arrangements have been announced. Rainbow DBS, marketed under the brand name Voom, currently offers service using a single satellite, Rainbow 1, launched last year and located at 61 degrees west. Rainbow 1 is a Lockheed A2100AX spacecraft, but operates at Ku-band frequencies rather than the Ka-band frequencies to be used by the new spacecraft. Rainbow DBS also announced plans this week to lease transponders on an SES Americom satellite, AMC-6.