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Information on EchoStar Corp, manufacture of Cable, Satellite receivers and former parent visit Echostar Corporation

DISH Network Corporation is the parent company of DISH Network. The company was formerly known as EchoStar Communications Corporation.

History

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 the same year, Echostar — in association with Bell Canada — launched Dish Network Canada.

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.

On January 1, 2008 EchoStar split into two separate businesses: DISH Network Corporation and Echostar Corporation. DISH Network Corporation, the larger of the two resulting companies, focuses on US-based marketing of satellite television, while EchoStar Corporation runs a majority of the satellite fleet and other signal infrastructure.

Controversies

There recently have been accusations that Dish Network has homophobic business practices, as they refuse to add any LGBT programing to their line up, such as the Logo channel and Here! (which are carried by DirecTV and most major cable companies). Dish also apparently backed out of a contract with GTN (Gay Television Network) to carry the channel.

Satellite fleet

Orbital Locations Vary
Most of the satellites used by DISH Network are owned and operated by Echostar Corporation. Since EchoStar frequently moves satellites among its many orbiting slots this list may not be immediately accurate.
Refer to Lyngsat.com and Dish Channel Chart for detailed satellite information.

Dish Network Satellites
Satllite	Location	Launched	Type	Notes
EchoStar I	148° W	1995 28 December	Lockheed Martin Astro Space Series 7000 (AS-7000)	Dish Network appears to be in the process of moving international programming from this satellite to Anik F3 (118.75°), potentially as a precursor to discontinuing use of this satellite.
EchoStar II	148° W	1996 10 September	Lockheed Martin Astro Space Series 7000 (AS-7000)	On July 14, 2008, EchoStar 2 satellite experienced a substantial failure that appears to have rendered the satellite a total loss.
EchoStar III	61.50° W	1997 5 October	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
EchoStar IV	77° W (incline)	1998 8 May	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX	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.
EchoStar V	129° W	1999 23 September	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	EchoStar V was moved from 110 to 129 and is currently providing HD national and HD and SD local stations
EchoStar VI	72.7° W	2000 14 July	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	Currently only MPEG-4 programming.
EchoStar VII	119° W	2002 21 February	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
110° W	2002 21 August	Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) FS-1300
EchoStar IX/ Galaxy 23	121° W	2003 7 August	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	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. Non-DBS Programming has now been removed from EchoStar IX and is being provided from 118.7
EchoStar X	110° W	2006 15 February	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
Echostar XII/ Rainbow 1	61.5° W	2003 17 July	Lockheed-Martin AS-2100	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.
AMC-15	105 °W	2004 14 October	Lockheed-Martin AS-2100	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. Non-DBS Programming has now been removed from AMC-15 and is being provided from 118.7
Anik F3	118.75° W	2007 12 April	Astrium Eurostar 3000	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.
AMC-14 (satellite)	61.5°	2008 March 14	Lockheed-Martin A2100AX	Satellite Launch Failure, not in intended orbit
EchoStar XI	110 °W	2008 16 July	SS/L 1300
EchoStar 15	TBD	TBD	unknown	Announced 2008