Thanks for the bit about my "cash negative" future. I so look forward to that part!
The Hughes situation is truly a unique one, if it involves the whole line of HS 601s. Originally, Galaxy IV was followed by the same problem on Galaxy VII--these two were considered twins, and it would not be so odd to have that kind of trouble in two similar birds. SS/L had the same problem with the solar arrays on two birds, TEMPO and PAS-6--the same bad arrays were used on both sats. They were not used elsewhere though, and that is where the similarity of these two problems could end. There are over 30 HS 601s up there, including 8 PanAmSats and all three DirecTV craft. So you can see where the concern might be great for all those involved. If this is more than just a problem isolated in a few birds, it would definitely be a unique situation. That is the big unknown now. The only certainty is that Galaxy IV is lost, and Galaxy VII and DBS-1 are operating on backup systems due to the failure of the same primary system that doomed Galaxy IV. The rest is speculation and nothing more. The secondary systems on Galaxy IV also failed, but supposedly due to an unrelated problem. Possible effects? The big negative is a total loss of confidence in satellite services due to a perceived lack of reliability. The big positive is the tight transponder rates, the flow of manufacturing jobs to SS/L, the launching of Telstar 6&7, Orion 3 , and SatMex 5 could not come at a better time, etc. |
