Boeing Set to Launch New DIRECTV Satellite

The Boeing Company, which has a contact to build three new satellites for DIRECTV, Inc., has announced the delivery of the second of those satellites, DIRECTV 11, to its Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, California. The satellite will be launched via a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket in March this year.

DIRECTV 11 is a 702-model satellite which will enable DIRECTV to continue expanding their lineup of quality high-definition television programming. The new satellite, in collaboration with its sibling DIRECTV 10, which was launched last year, will give DIRECTV the capacity for 150 national HD channels and 1,500 local channels.

According to Craig Cooning, Vice President and Acting General Manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, "The successful completion and delivery of DIRECTV 11 underscores Boeing’s commitment to program execution. This is the ninth Boeing-built DIRECTV satellite, and once again we’ve convened the best-of-industry to deliver this highly capable DIRECTV 11 satellite."

Boeing satellites have helped DIRECTV expand its coverage via cutting-edge technology over a period of 14 years with a partnership which began with the lanuch of DIRECTV 1.