AMC 14 Satellite Launch Failure - What now for Dish?

Launch failures are simply a cost of doing business - I'm sure there are contingency plans in place so the failure doesn't set them back too far. Launching birds is a risky business, and everyone who uses satellites knows it. RE: converting everything to MPEG4, there's still some constraint of components on the uplink/downlink end. I would not hope for a merger - the egos involved would not make that easy, and they've tried before and run into anti-competition regulation...not enough available for the rural customers.
 
Dish is going to have to beg the FCC and Canada to approve E6 at 77 ASAP. They can recover, amc-14 would only give them 4 more TPs on 61.5.
 
I have to chuckle at all the "should I cancel?" and "I'm glad my contract is running out" posts when we really know nothing about the true impact and what Dish's contigency plans are yet. I just turned on my 722 and yup, I still get the channels I signed up for a few months ago.

I could be completely wrong, but I thought his launch was more about replacing the current sat at 61.5 and providing more HDLIL. In that case, it would really only delay the HDLIL rollout, right?
 
The failure would have nothing to do with the new LIL's they will launch on time as they are using Rainbow 1 and the Spot Beam Technology.

From where I sit Dish can continue its plan on 61.5, The only thing AMC was replacing was Echostar 3 which still has life in it. It must still have some time on it as Dish filed to have it used as a In Obit Spare.

About the only thing they are losing from AMC14 is 4 transponders.

The question now is how long will it take for another satellite to get launched at 61.5?

BTW I keep seeing here and at other forums people asking if Charlie had the satellite insured. Since the satellite was not Charlies (he was just leasing it) it would be the SES Americom guys would would of insured it. And even if its insured it takes years befora a replacement can be made and launched.

I suspect we will see some satellite shuffling in the future.
 
I'm sure this link (or the news contained within) is old news by this point, but it would appear that the Proton rocket carrying the new bird didn't continue with it's second stage burn as long as it should have; over two minutes than it should.

Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | Proton rocket suffers launch failure

As someone who readily admits to not knowing the intricacies of the whole thing, wouldn't you think both SES and Dish consider another rocket besides the Proton? Seems like the failure rate with the SAME problem is getting kind of high
 
ILS is probably going to be down for a few months to retool and find out how to stop this from happening too, so they'll really be behind then. I'm not so sure they'll feel they owe SES Americom anything, so probably SES will be going to the back of the line.

And sure a ground spare matters. 4 years to build AMC-14... Ground spare would still make the matter months/year instead of 4.
Have you ever seen a plastic toilet? White Porcelain. --Appliance Direct
 
Launch failures are simply a cost of doing business - I'm sure there are contingency plans in place so the failure doesn't set them back too far. Launching birds is a risky business, and everyone who uses satellites knows it.


I sure hope it is not the same plan they had last time the satellite launched failed. There was none!!!!!
 
Just amazing that our governement can launch a NSA satellite from Vandenberg today with no problems whatsoever (at least that they will admit to), but Dish cannot get a satellite into orbit. That astounds me. I sure hope Charlie offers me something to stay, because I sure love my 622, but I need some new national HD asap, and I do not care if they have t shut all the MPEG2 receivers down to do it.

Its kinda sad really. Why we cant do commercial launches in the USA? Apparently there is a demand, if both sealaunch and ILS are booked solid despite all the problems they have been having recently.

You'd think NASA could come up with a commercial project and raise some $$$ for the space program at the same time. Not to mention keeping our money in the US.
 


That's a fascinating article. So AMC-14 is up and in orbit, just at too low to be of use to Echostar. And there is a chance that the satellite could still save itself by use of on-board rockets, as one other bird was able to move to the higher orbit on its own.

Otherwise the satellite may still be of use to someone, once SES Americom finds out where the bird is going to eventually end up.
 
Open Letter to Charlie

Charlie,

In case you're curious as to what would keep me from switching to DirecTV...

You already have up-linked the HD I really want. Unfortunately, some if it is not "available" yet (the Austin HD Locals and SciFi HD). So just tell your boys to flip a few switches. Oh and send someone over with a wing dish for 61.5.

Sincerely,
Talon Dancer
 
Yeah there is the chance that they could slingshot it using the moons gravity as well. It has not exploded, the rocket simply cut out two minutes too early. Hence it's orbit is a LONGGG way from the needed 22,000 miles out that it should be at. Using the bird's own fuel would make it run oout of it and its expected lifetime would be drastically shortened. This reminds me of the scene with the russian cosmonaut from Armageddon, "Russian, American.. it is all made in china! Piece of Sh#T! BAP!" We need him to go smack it one with his wrench! ;0
 
Being a Big Sci Fi/Star Trek fan it is sad to see how this could happen and will be more pessimistic if we can't move this bird into its correct orbit.

We are so behind thanks to the nuts that run the space programs.
 
To help E* along isn't there a bunch of HD local's on CONUS beams that they could move to E12 and put on spotbeams to buy them some space? That would tick off all the folks that 'moved' but would allow for some more national HD channels.
 
Well they should know by now you never using anything that is Russian made! Especially anything Space related heck our guys were always going up fixing that big piece of junk they called a space station. Lets all hope that from here on out that they are not going to do it the CHEAP way and do their launches from Russian and use Russian Hardware. They need to do everything in the US or off the cost of the US using US Hardware.

Now that all being said could the Sat use its own engines to get to it's orbit??
 

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