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DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) is the parent company of DISH Network and the maintainer of the satellite fleet that provides the signal that DISH Network markets. The company also designs and manufactures set-top boxes to receive the Freeview (DVB-T) broadcasts in the United Kingdom, as well as generic DVB-S receivers. The company was formerly known as EchoStar Communications Corporation.

Contents 1 History 2 Satellite Fleet 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

EchoStar was formed in 1980 by its chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen as a distributor of C band TV systems. In 1987, EchoStar applied for a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) license with the Federal Communications Commission and was granted access to orbital slot 119° west longitude in 1992.

On December 28, 1995, EchoStar successfully launched its first satellite, EchoStar I. That same year, EchoStar established the DISH Network brand name to market its home satellite TV system.

In 1998, EchoStar purchased the broadcasting assets of a satellite broadcasting joint venture of News Corporation's ASkyB and MCI Worldcom. With this purchase EchoStar obtained 28 of the 32 transponder licenses in the 110° W orbital slot, more than doubling existing CONUS broadcasting capacity at a value of $682.5 million. The acquisition inspired the company to introduce a multi-satellite system called DISH 500, theoretically capable of receiving more than 500 channels on one dish.

In January 2005, EchoStar bought the broadcasting assets of the troubled HDTV DBS company Voom, including its Rainbow 1 satellite co-located with EchoStar 3 at 61.5° W. On April 29, EchoStar announced that it would expand its HDTV programming by adding the first 10 of 21 original Voom channels and mirror the channels on a CONUS slot [1].

On September 25, 2007, EchoStar announced it had agreed to acquire Sling Media Inc.

On December 6, 2007, EchoStar announced it is changing its name to DISH Network Corporation.

Orbital Locations Vary
Since EchoStar frequently moves satellites among its many orbiting slots this list is not immediately accurate.
Refer to Lyngsat.com for detailed satellite information.

Notes
EchoStar I	148° W	28 December 1995	Lockheed Martin Astro Space Series 7000 (AS-7000)
EchoStar II	148° W	10 September 1996	Lockheed Martin Astro Space Series 7000 (AS-7000)
EchoStar III	61.50° W	5 October 1997	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
EchoStar IV	77° W (incline)	8 May 1998	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX	Note (1)
EchoStar V	129° W	23 September 1999	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300
EchoStar VI	110° W	14 July 2000	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300
EchoStar VII	119° W	21 February 2002	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
EchoStar VIII	110° W	21 August 2002	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300
EchoStar IX/Galaxy 23	121° W	7 August 2003	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	Note (2) Non-DBS
EchoStar X	110° W	15 February 2006	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
Echostar XII/Rainbow 1	61.5° W	17 July 2003	Lockheed-Martin AS-2100	Note (3)
AMC-15	105 °W	14 October 2004	Lockheed-Martin AS-2100	Note (4) Non-DBS
Anik F3[1]	118.75° W	12 April 2007	Astrium Eurostar 3000	Note (5) Non-DBS, Circular Polarity in FSS band
EchoStar XI	TBD	TDB 2008	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	Announced 9 May 2006

Notes:

(1) EchoStar IV at 77° W is not licensed to serve customers in the United States. EchoStar has placed the satellite in this Mexican controlled orbital slot to serve future DBS customers in Mexico.

(2) Customers use SuperDISH 121 to receive this non-DBS, medium-powered signal. Satellite is jointly owned by EchoStar and Intelsat. The K_u band is owned by EchoStar. K_a band payload owned by EchoStar and not currently in use. C band payload owned by Intelsat and is known as Galaxy 23.

(3) Rainbow 1 was launched by Cablevision/Rainbow DBS and used for the Voom DBS service at 61.5° W until the satellite and transponder licenses were sold to EchoStar in 2005. March 2006 saw DISH Network rename it to EchoStar 12. It is co-located with EchoStar III at 61.5° W.

(4) Customers use SuperDISH 105 to receive this signal. Non-DBS, medium-power AMC-15 is owned by SES Americom and replaced AMC-2 at the 105° W orbital location. EchoStar leases the entire bandwidth of the AMC-15 satellite.

(5) Customers use the 26-centimeter DISH 500+ or DISH 1000+ to receive this non-DBS, medium-powered signal. Anik F3 is leased by EchoStar from Telesat Canada to serve CONUS customers. It broadcasts on non-DBS FSS frequencies using circular polarity (the only satellite serving the United States in this mode). It permanently replaces AMC-16 which was temporarily placed at 118.75° W due to delays in Anik F3 production. AMC-16 moved back to 85° W when Anik F3 was fully operational.

• DISH Network
• Direct Broadcast Satellite

• EchoStar homepage
• EchoStar Europe
• ASkyB/MCI Worldcom litigation
• SkyREPORT.com history of DTH broadcasting
• Lyngsat.com Satellite Data
• SatelliteGuys.US - Satellite Discussion Forum
• Sat-Index.com Satellite Failure Reports

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